


Fairy Tail: A New Day

by Navek, xpegasus12



Series: The Fairy Mythos Series [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Actual Blood in fights, F/M, Original Characters - Freeform, The Fairy Mythos Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2018-12-12 20:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 121,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11745069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Navek/pseuds/Navek, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpegasus12/pseuds/xpegasus12
Summary: AU. What if Natsu already had a team before he met Lucy at Hargeon? What if the Guild had a few different members in the past? How will this affect the future of Fairy Tail? Read to find out as Team Morningstar takes the Magic World by storm! And don't forget to have some fun on the way! First Story in the Fairy Mythos Series!





	1. The Quartet becomes a Quintet

It was early morning in the port town of Hargeon. As such, the daily train had arrived in town, and the passengers were leaving and entering. Among the passengers was an interesting looking group featuring two men, a woman, and a cat.

The cat stood on two legs, had blue & white fur, a green scarf, a green backpack and black eyes.

The scrawny man had scruffy brown hair, green eyes, lightly tan skin, wore a black t-shirt, jean shorts with a short sword with a black handle with a matching sheath, a green pentacle pendant on his left wrist, and a set of black & white sneakers.

The woman was the tallest of the group with an amazonian physique, long orange hair that covered her cheeks, purple eyes, tan skin, a sleeveless red shirt, red fingerless gloves, long purple spandex pants, and black booties.

Rounding off the group was the second male who was wearing a long-sleeve red shirt, a silver scarf, sandals and a green backpack. He had black eyes, spiky pink hair, and was currently writhing in pain on the station floor.

"Oh thank Mavis! It's over!" He said.

"You know, you could try to learn a spell to help with your motion sickness, Natsu." The brunette man stated.

"Impossible. Natsu sucks at any magic that isn't Dragon Slayer magic." The cat replied.

"Shut up, Happy."

The woman sighed and helped Natsu on his feet. The pink head leaned on her shoulders.

"Thanks, Alyssa."

"No problem. Now come on, let's find Sala..." The three noticed that their friend had already started walking away.

"Zeke, wait up!" Happy yelled as the three followed after him.

A little while later, the quartet was walking through town until they heard some woman screaming.

"It's Salamander!"

"He's so hot!"

"Did you hear that, guys? He's here!" Natsu exclaimed as he ran with glee.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Alyssa said as she smiled.

"Aye." Happy ran after them.

"Um, guys. Don't you think this is a little strange?" Zeke asked as his friends ran off. "Guys? Wait up!"

The two reached a large circle of women. The group cut through as Natsu started exclaiming, "Igneel! Igneel! It's me, Natsu!" The quartet finally reached the middle and found a man with blue hair, a tattoo on his face, wore a white button up shirt, a jacket over his shoulder, plaid pants, and several rings on his hands.

"Who the hell are you?" The four of them asked.

"Why I am the great and mighty Salamander." The man smugly stated. He pulled out four pieces of paper with his name on them. "Would you care for my autograph?"

"Ya, no thanks." Zeke replied with a deadpan expression. In response, the fan girls tossed him violently against a dumpster. "Why me?"

As his friends helped him back up, Salamander told the ladies they were all invited to a party on his yacht later that night before taking off on a stream of fire.

"So is it me, or did that guy seem like a real creep?" Alyssa asked.

"That's probably cause he is a creep." The four turned and saw a blonde girl with an hourglass figure, brown eyes, a blue & white shirt, a blue skirt and black boots. On the sides of her skirt was a keychain with several gold and silver keys.

"Hi, my name's Lucy."

A little while later, the group was eating at a local restaurant. After introducing themselves, Lucy told the group about how Salamander was using a forbidden form of magic known as a Charm Spell. The team's sudden arrival broke her out of her trance, and that's why she was treating them to lunch (which she was starting to regret as Natsu was savagely eating every item on the menu as everyone else ate a regular meal.)

"That reminds me. Why weren't you affected by the Charm spell, Alyssa?" Lucy asked the orange-haired woman.

"Well, it's quite simple. Why would I fall for a charm spell..." She reached under Natsu chin and turned his head, making the stare into each other's eyes. "When I already have my dream guy?"

Natsu blushed a bit at the compliment. "Nice to know I can ward off charm spells for you." Lucy almost swore she saw the air sparkle around them.

"Oh, Natsu." She said dreamily.

"Alyssa." He replied back.

"Natsu."

"Alyssa."

Zeke and Happy sweat dropped as the two keep repeating each other's names. "They're at it again." The cat stated.

"Nice going, Lucy."

The blonde girl laughed in embarrassment. "By the way, you guys said you were looking for a different Salamander, right?"

The question broke Natsu and Alyssa out of their couple trance as Natsu answered. "That's right. We heard a rumor that a Salamander was in town."

"Too bad that guy was a total dud." Happy responded.

"No kidding. He looked nothing like a dragon." Alyssa stated. "I bet he can't even breath fire."

"So your friend looks like a dragon?" Lucy asked.

"No, he doesn't look like a dragon. He is a dragon." Natsu answered.

"And you thought a dragon would be in a town?!" The blonde asked. The four suddenly had the same realization about the fallacy in their logic. "Are you just realizing that?!"

After paying the check, Lucy got up and left. However, as she turned back, she saw the Natsu and Happy bowing on the floor as Zeke and Alyssa nodded while standing up.

"Thank you for the meal!" The four of them said.

"Stop it! You're embarrassing me!"

Later, the four were walking around the town at night since their train wasn't leaving until tomorrow. The group stopped at a bridge that overlooked the city and ocean, giving them a fantastic view.

"Well, better luck next time." Zeke said to cheer Natsu up.

"Ya." The salmon-haired man replied as Alyssa rubbed his head. However, the group overheard a few girls walking past them. They were talking about Salamander, but this time they said he was the same mage from the Fairy Tail Guild that Lucy mentioned that she wanted to join. This got the group's attention as they stared down a yacht in the distance.

Meanwhile, on said yacht, Lucy (who had gotten invited by Salamander on the grounds that he would put a good word for her at Fairy Tail) was being held by two goons. She had just learned that Salamander had drugged all the women he invited and was planning on selling them in Bosco. To make things worst, he had thrown her Gate Keys into the ocean.

"You're the worst kind of wizard!" She yelled out.

Suddenly, the roof of the ship exploded as Zeke landed on the floor. "All I needed to hear." The brunette man said as he held a green longbow in his left hand and pointed it at Salamander. "Now prepare to face to the might of the Hudson Legacy!"

"Zeke!" Lucy happily exclaimed.

"Well, well. If it isn't the rude brunette from earlier." Salamander angrily stated.

"Hi, Lucy!" Happy said from above. However, the blonde noticed something different about the cat.

"Happy, when did you get wings?"

"I'll explain later." The winged cat said as he wrapped Lucy in his tail and took off.

"Wait, we can't leave Zeke! He's fighting a wizard plus a bunch of goons with just a bow! He didn't even have any arrows on him!"

"Don't worry; he can handle himself." Happy replied. On the ship, Zeke was staring down the human traffickers with genuine hatred.

"Let's rock." He said as his right hand glowed green.

Back at the port, Natsu and Alyssa were waiting on the sea wall, bored out of their minds.

"Why did we have to wait?" Natsu sighed.

"Because you would get motion sickness on the boat and I'm too heavy for Happy to carry." The amazon sighed along with her boyfriend. Suddenly, the two spotted a tidal wave heading in their direction.

"HOLY SHIT!" They yelled.

"Alyssa!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Right!" She replied and disappeared in a flash. After the wave hit, Natsu quickly got up and started looking through the ship.

"Zeke! Where are you?!"

"Over here." A voice said under some rubble. The salmon-haired man quickly threw off the debris and saw his pal crouched and covered in a green bubble, which dissipated. "Thanks, bro. I don't know what the hell happened. One minute I was beating up some schmucks, the next minute I get swept up in a freak tidal wave from nowhere!"

"Hey, guys!" The two turned and saw Alyssa run towards them. "Are you okay?"

"Yep." The two answered.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am 110% done with this impostor." The tall woman said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Well then. Let's show give these guys a Team Morningstar beat down!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Here, here!" Zeke said as the three of them headed up to the top of the wrecked ship.

"Hey, Salamander!" Natsu yelled, catching the blue-haired charmer and his goon's attention. "You said you're a Fairy Tail Wizard, right?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"That's funny." Alyssa said as she put her hair in a ponytail, revealing a purple mark on her cheek. Natsu tore off his tattered jacket, revealing an open black vest and the same mark in red on his right shoulder. Zeke lowered his t-shirt and showed the same mark on his collarbone but in green. "Cause we happen to be Fairy Tail wizards ourselves."

"So you mind telling us why we've never seen you before?" Zeke said as his pendant glowed, releasing a stream of magical energy into his left hand that turned into the green longbow from earlier.

"Well, there's a simple explanation for that. You see... _PROMINENCE BLAST!_ " He unleashed a stream of violet fire and hit their position.

"Oh no!" Lucy yelled.

However, the fire started to get sucked into something. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that the something was Natsu eating the fire. "Geez, this is the worst fire I've ever tasted."

Everyone besides the four friends gasped in surprised. "Wait, I recognize these guys!" A goon stated. "Those marks. Those are real Fairy Tail marks Bora."

"Don't call me that, you dunce!" The blue-haired man exclaimed.

"Bora? So you're Bora the Prominence!" Alyssa stated.

"Didn't you get kicked out of the Titan Nose Guild for bad behavior?" The brunette archer.

"Don't just stand there you idiots! Get them!" Bora ordered and a group of goons charged. However, an orange & red blur took knocked them faster than they could react. The blur stopped and revealed herself as Alyssa.

"Here's the thing, Bora." Natsu said as heat started radiating off him. "You try to dirty Fairy Tail's name; your ass is as good as beat."

More goons charged as Natsu inhaled. _"Fire Dragon's_..."

He held his hands out in a tunnel in front of him. _"ROAR!"_ The salmon-haired wizard unleashed a massive torrent of flames.

Some more goons tried to get them another direction, but Zeke smirked and created several energy arrows in his right hand. He loaded them and aimed. _"Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!"_ He unleashed a stream of arrows that quickly hit the goons.

 _"Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Kick!"_ A purple magic seal appeared behind her as Alyssa kicked the biggest goon with hyper-fast kicks, knocking him out.

"They're really Fairy Tail wizards!?" Lucy asked.

"Aye. Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic gives him all the properties of a dragon. Alyssa's Speed Queen Magic allows her to move at hyper speed. And Zeke's Archery Magic lets him create a bow and arrows using his own magic energy." Happy exclaimed. "Together, these three form one of Fairy Tail's greatest teams: Morningstar!"

"Okay, enough of this!" Bora exclaimed as he rose on his Red Carpet spell. _"Prominence Shower!"_ He unleashed a torrent of violet fire, but the three dodged the blasts. Zeke created a single arrow and aimed it.

 _"Arch Shot: Seeker Arrow!"_ He let go and fired a stream that Bora evaded.

"You missed!"

The brunette smirked. "Think again." He held up his right pointer and middle fingers, which had a green magic seal over them. He waved his hand, and the stream turned, surprising Bora and forcing him to dodge. However, as he was evading the green stream of death, Alyssa ran underneath the flying impostor with a smile.

"Got ya! _Speed Queen: Twin Twister!"_ She spun her arms so fast she created two twisters that consumed Bora.

"What the hell?!" Bora asked as he was tossed around by the winds. Natsu jumped into the air and covered his fist in fire.

"Time for a hot fisting, you fake!"

"Say what?!"

 _"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"_ He punched the slaver so hard, he flew and hit a close-by bell tower.

"And that's another win for Team Morningstar!" Alyssa said as she gave her teammates a tight hug.

"Wow, you guys went completely overboard!" Lucy yelled. The three stopped their celebration and saw that most of the town near the beach had been totaled.

"Don't worry. I got all the civilians out in time." Alyssa stated.

"And to be fair Lucy, you and the fish lady did most of the damage." Happy said.

"You caused that tidal wave?!" Zeke yelled.

"What fish lady?" Natsu asked. But before they could continue their conversation, the five noticed the military heading in their direction. "Oh shit! We gotta move!" The team ran as fast as they could, Lucy being dragged off by Zeke.

"Why are you taking me?" She asked as Happy flew over them.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" Zeke asked. Lucy looked at the three smiling wizards in surprise.

"So let's go!" Natsu said excitingly. Lucy smiled back at them and started willingly run away with the four.

And thus, a small circle of close friends gained a new member.


	2. Welcome to Fairy Tail!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: I don't own anything except my OCs and original magic. Also, I've given voice actors for my OCs. Johnny Young Bosch for Zeke and Laura Bailey for Alyssa. Also, Zeke's magic seal has an arrow while Alyssa's has a boot with motion lines. And if anyone with a Deviantart account makes some fan art of this story, I'll use it as the cover of the story and give them full credit.

_Opening Song - Snow Fairy by Funkist_

_Fairy, where are you going? hikari zenbu atsumete_

_kimi no ashita terasu yo_

(We see Fairies flying into the night sky before cutting to a castle, a ship at sea and finally Natsu, Alyssa and Zeke looking up at night sky. We cut up to the moon in sky before getting the logo: Fairy Tail: A New Day.)

_Oh yeah, kikoete no kakro no koe wa? Oh yeah, kare tatte sakebu kara_

(Lucy stands on a hill over looking Magnolia, a fairy passing by as she turns. We then see Alyssa and Gray standing in some debris, Gray looking stotic while Alyssa is smiling as a Fairy passes by.)

_Oh yeah, kikoeru made kimi no kokoro ga. Oh yeah, oh yeah._

(Erza and Zeke stand by a defeated monster, Erza looking serious as Zeke looks proud. Cut over to Natsu facing away on a cliff before turning and giving a thumbs up as Happy floats by.)

_Tsuki to taiyou no haitachi_

(We cut a train and the Team doing their thing. Natsu motion sick with his head in Alyssa's lap and her massaging his head, Gray looking out a window, Lucy looking at a map, Erza eating a Strawberry cake, Zeke reading a book, and Happy and Plue doing a funny dance.)

_wasuremo we nai desuka?_

(We see the gang on a caravan before switching to them at a campfire. Natsu is savagely eating some drumsticks, Happy eating a fish, Alyssa eating from a bowel with several towered next to her, Lucy and Zeke giving Gray a disapproving look as he lays shirtless and Erza sitting next a large collection of luggage.)

_okashii na kimi ga inai to_

_hoshii momo sae mitsukara nai_

(Plue is shaking and we cut to a dreary day as Lucy is sitting on a bridge with a solemn expression. She turns her head and sees Mirajane and Team Morningstar as the sky brightens, causing her to smile.)

_Snowing, sunao ni egao ni_

_nare ta no wa futari yorisoi_

_kasane aruka "Jikan" ga aru kara_

(We see multiple adventures. The gang riding on griffins, the group laughing as Natsu and Gray butt heads, Lucy freaking out as the group is surrounded by rock creatures with their magic ready, and the group being annoyed as Natsu and Alyssa are in a 'couple trance'. We then see Zeke with longbow and a woman in elaborate clothing wielding a green crossbow looming over him with a smile before cutting the rest of Fairy Tail.)

_Fairy, where are you going?_

_Hikari zenbu atsumete_

_Kimi no ashita terasu yo_

(Lucy fires an elaborate cannon as her Celestial Spirits come out before cutting to Natsu, Alyssa and Zeke combining their magic into one attack, causing a massive explosion. We then see the Fairy Tail members looking on from a distance, followed by Team Morningstar facing a giant monster in a canyon.)

_Don't say goodbye!_

(We see quick cuts of Natsu's life. Him with Igneel as a boy, fist bumping with a younger Zeke, and his first kiss with Alyssa. We then cut to Erza requipping to her Heaven's Wheel Armor and Natsu with his Iron Fist as the two pass each other, causing a light. We then see Happy with his wings giving a wink before cutting to Team Morningstar in front of the guild hall, Zeke having his longbow over his shoulders and Alyssa having her fist in her palm.)

_Chapter 2: Welcome to Fairy Tail!_

The day was still young as Team Morningstar and Lucy trekked through the city of Magnolia until they reached a two-story building with the words 'Fairy Tail' on the sign.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Happy told Lucy, who smiled with glee as she was standing in front of her favorite guild.

Natsu kicked open the door, letting them in. "We made it back alive!"

"Hey guys!" The wizards inside the guild said, greeting the team as they entered.

"I heard you went all out in Hargeon." A buck-toothed man snarked. "You guys really know how to cause trou-" He was then kicked in the face by Natsu, knocking him into a another table.

"You lied about that Salamander! I'm gonna kick your ass!" The Dragon Slayer exclaimed.

The man got from the rubble and glared at the salmon-haired guy. "Hey, don't be mad at me! I was just passing a rumor I heard!"

"IT WAS ONLY A RUMOR!?"

"So what? You wanna fight about it?"

"Bring it on!" Natsu yelled as he charged into a brawl. In a matter of minutes, the fight turned into a free-for-all throughout the guild. Alyssa and Zeke sweat-dropped as Lucy looked at the guild in amazement, seemingly ignoring the massive brawl.

"Wow! I'm actually standing in the Fairy Tail guild hall!" As she said this the three noticed a fit young man with spiky black hair, the Fairy Tail stamp on his right pectoral and he was wearing nothing but boxers, surprising the new girl.

"So Natsu's back, huh!?" The near-naked man said as headed for the battle. But before he could join the fray, a brunette woman in a blue bikini top, red pants, various jewelry on her wrists, and a wine glass in her hand interrupted him.

"Gray, your clothes."

"I don't have time for this!" He yelled as he joined the brawl.

Zeke sighed and placed his hand on Lucy's shoulders. "Well, might as well show you around." The three walked to the bar and sat next to the long-haired brunette. "Lucy, this is Cana, Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker."

"Hey!"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong." Zeke dared. Cana just shrugged as the fight got louder.

"And this is why I don't date the guys in this Guild. No class." She said as she grabbed the wine barrel next to her and started drinking from it, making Lucy stare in shock, Zeke stare with a deadpan expression, and Alyssa giggled.

"Oh come on, Cana. Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" The orange-haired amazon said, subtly gesturing to a certain shirtless man. The brunette had a subtle blush on her cheeks, but that also could have been the booze.

As the fight progressed, a large man in with tan skin, white hair, and a scar on his face stood next to the fight. "It's barely noon and you guys are already fighting like spoiled children. Do I need to teach you a lesson?"

"Hey, Elfman!" Zeke said as the two shook hands. "How was the escort mission?"

The large man shrugged. "It was alright. Though the client and I had some...disagreements."

"You punched him in the face, didn't you?" The archer asked. Elfman scowled.

"I don't see the problem."

"It's so noisy around here." A voice said and got the non-combatants attention. They turned and saw a man with a green jacket, brown pants, blue-tinted sunglasses, rings on his hands, and a women in each of his arms. He got up and winked at the ladies. "I'm gonna go join, if only to protect you."

"Okay, Loki." The ladies swooned as Lucy crossed his image off her potential boyfriend list.

"Okay, aside from Zeke and Alyssa, is there any other sane person around?"

"Hello, are you new here?" Lucy turned and saw a white-haired woman in a red dress and holding a drink tray.

"It's Mirajane! In the flesh!" Lucy fangirled, recognizing the barmaid from her photo shoots in Sorcerer Weekly.

"Hey, Mira." Alyssa said as she hugged her friend.

"Welcome back, Alyssa. How did the search in Hargeon go?"

The Speed Queen sighed. "It was just some jerk using Natsu's nickname and a charm spell."

"Oh, that's too bad." The barmaid turned back to Lucy. "So who's the new girl?"

"I'm Lucy." The celestial wizard introduced herself. "Alyssa and the others helped me out in Hargeon and said I could join Fairy Tail." The sounds of fighting caught her attention again. "Shouldn't we do something about that?"

Mirajane just giggled. "Oh, it's always like this. It's probably better if we just let them..."

"Head's up!" Zeke yelled as he shot down a bottle that was heading for Mirajane.

"Okay, who's the dead man who threw that at my sister?!" Elfman exclaimed as he charged into the brawl.

"Ya, who did that?!" Alyssa yelled, angry that someone almost hit her best friend as she charged in.

"And there they go." Zeke stated as he dismissed his longbow. Suddenly, Zeke was knocked onto the ground by an airborne Gray. Much to the archer's disgust, the Ice Wizard had lost his boxers and was completely naked. "Get off me you naked weirdo!"

"Sorry." Gray said as he stood up. "Who took my underwear?"

'Don't turn around! Don't turn around! Don't turn around!' Lucy was screaming in her mind, embarrassed at the naked man near her. Unfortunately, he did turn around.

"Excuse me Mam, may I borrow your underw..." And the embarrassed Celestial Wizard knocked the nude man away with a nearby bar stool.

"NO WAY!" Suddenly, Loki picked her up bridal style.

"So uncivilized. That's no way to treat a beautiful lady like you." He flirted with her until Elfman punched him in the face.

"REAL MEN FLIRT WITH THEIR FISTS LOKI!" The giant man said but was then kicked by Natsu.

"And that's what you get for letting your guard down!" The dragon slayer smirked.

An anger vein appeared on her head as Cana was drinking. "Can't a lady drink in peace?" She turned around and pulled out a card, creating a light green magic seal. "Seriously guys, knock it off."

"Says who?" Gray retorted as he struck a combat pose and created a blue seal. Elfman roared as a purple seal formed above his arm as it was covered in rocks.

"Bring it!" Alyssa cracked her fists as a seal appeared behind her as she started vibrating at super-speed.

"You punks can be such a nuisance." Loki said as he grabbed one of his rings.

"Now I'm really getting fired up!" Natsu exclaimed as flames covered his hands.

"Hit the deck!" Zeke yelled as he, Lucy and Happy ducked behind the bar.

However, the fight was stopped dead cold as a giant creature stomped into the Guild.

" **THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU BRATS!** " The only people not affected by the arrival was Zeke and Mira.

"Oh hi, master. I didn't know you were still here." The barmaid greeted, shocking Lucy at the nonchalant nature of her greeting and what she said.

"That's the Fairy Tail Master?!" This got the giant's attention.

" **SO WE HAVE A NEW RECRUIT, HUH?** "

"That's right." Zeke said as he placed his hand on the trembling blonde's shoulder. "This is Lucy. She wanted to know if she could join."

The colossal being looked at her for a second before he started to shrink. Lucy gawked as the giant turned into a short old man with orange elf-like clothing. "Nice to meet ya!" He greeted her.

"He's so tiny!"

"Well then, Lucy. I would like to introduce you to the Fairy Tail Master, Makarov." Mira said as the short man somersaulted up to the second floor. After comically hitting his head on the railing and getting back up, he glared at the gathered wizards.

"You bunch of clogs have done it again!" He yelled as he pulled out a stack of papers. "Look at all this paperwork the Magic Council has sent me! This is the biggest stack of complaints yet! We have counts of public indecency..."

Gray rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Assaulting clients..."

Elfman sweat-dropped.

"Sexual harassment..."

Loki looked away with a guilty look.

"Public drunkenness.."

Cana tried to nonchalantly drink her wine but was failing.

"And let's not forget all the destruction of public and private property!"

And our favorite trinity all had a look of shame on their faces.

"You guys really known how to get higher ups mad at me." Makarov groaned. "However..." He said with a smirk as he burnt up the papers. "I say to hell with the Magic Council!" The old master tossed in the burning pile down as Natsu jumped and caught it with his mouth, Alyssa giggling at his actions. However, everyone turned their attention to Makarov as he continued his speech.

"Now remember, any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason. Magic is not some king of miraculous power. It is a talent that only works when the flow of energy created inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect sync. To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should take over your being and pour out of your soul. If all we worry about is following rules, then our magic will never progress. Don't let those idiots on the council scare you. Do what you think is right!" He smirked and made a symbol with his right hand. "Because that's what makes the Fairy Tail Guild number one!"

The guildmates cheered and made the same symbol as the master finished his speech. As they cheered, Lucy smiled at Mira, feeling that she was going to like it here.

_**And then...** _

Mira pressed a magic stamp on Lucy's left hand and removed it, revealing a pink version of the Fairy Tail mark. "Now you're an officially a member!" The barmaid smiled.

Lucy looked at her guild mark in astonishment and headed towards Team Morningstar as they were browsing the job request board. "Hey guys! Check it out!" She said, showing them her new mark.

"That's great, Lucy!" Alyssa said as she gave the shorter woman a hug.

"Welcome to the guild." Natsu and Zeke said together.

"Aye!" Happy replied. After the congrats, the four went back to looking through the board as Lucy chatted with Mira and Cana at the bar.

"Hey, look at this one." Natsu pulled down a poster. "300,000 Jewel just to take out a few thieves."

"Sounds like easy money." Zeke said. However, their attention was caught by a young boy with black hair, a green t-shirt and brown shorts walking towards Makarov.

"Is my dad back yet?" The boy asked the old man.

"You're starting to get on my nerves, Romeo. You're a wizard's son. Have some faith in your father and wait patiently for him."

"But sir," The boy said with some water in his eyes. "He said he would be gone for three days. It's been almost a week now!"

The master rubbed his chin as he thought. "If I'm correct, he took the Mt. Hakobe mission."

"That's right, so why don't you send someone to go look for him?" The boy asked.

Makarov scowled at the young kid. "Your father is a Fairy Tail wizard like everyone here, and Fairy Tail Wizards can take care of themselves! So why don't go home, have some milk & cookies, and wait for him to come back!" However, as excepted when you tell a kid you're not going to look for his missing dad, Romeo punched Makarov before running out of the guild.

"I HATE YOU ALL!"

"Wow, that was hard to watch." Lucy stated. However, after hearing the sound of wood breaking, she turned and saw Natsu walking away from the job request board, which now had a large dent in it.

"Geez, Natsu! You almost split the board in two!" A tribal looked man called Nab yelled. Zeke looked at the retreating dragon slayer with worry and followed after him and Happy. Alyssa glared at Makarov for a second before following her teammates.

As Natsu exited the guild hall he heard...

"Natsu, wait up!" Zeke said, making him turn to see his best friend and girlfriend.

"Don't bother trying to stop me guys."

Alyssa just smiled. "Who said anything about trying to stop you?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow as Zeke put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, man. How long have you known us for?"

The salmon-haired wizard smiled in response. "Since I joined Fairy Tail."

"Exactly." The archer said and held out his fist. "Morningstar till the end."

The couple and the cat bumped their fists to his. "Morningstar till the end!"

_**And then...** _

It was business as usual for Natsu as he was lying on Alyssa's lap with his face turning green. Said speed queen was wearing a red snow coat with matching gloves, pants, orange snow boots, earmuffs and gloves. Happy sat on the floor and Zeke sat across from them in a black coat, goggles, pants, and gloves along with Lucy in her normal wardrobe. The five of them were currently on a carriage headed to Mt. Hakobe.

"So why did you decide to come with us?" Alyssa asked the Celestial wizard.

"I thought I could help you guys." Lucy replied, thinking back to the talk she had with Mirajane shortly after Team Morningstar left the guild. Of course, she was surprised that Natsu really was raised by a dragon named Igneel. She also found it sad when she heard about how Igneel had left Natsu one day before he came to Fairy Tail. As thus, Natsu saw a lot of himself in Romeo.

"Then why are you wearing a skirt?" Zeke asked. "You realize that we're going to a mountain, right?"

"Oh come on. How bad can it be?"

"Prepare to be surprised."

A few hours later, the carriage stopped with the driver saying that he brought them as far as he could take them. And as soon as they opened the door, the group was subjected to harsh and snowy winds of Mt. Hakobe.

"Where the hell is this?!" Lucy screamed. "I know we're on a mountain, but it's the middle of summer right now!"

"That's what you get for wearing light clothing." Natsu stated as Happy nodded in agreement.

"And you're dressed for the occasion!" She pointed at the wizard who was wearing his normal outfit.

"I'm a fire wizard. I'm basically a walking furnace." Natsu explained as Alyssa gave Lucy a spare blanket from her backpack. The blonde still shivered a bit until she came up with an idea.

"Hold up." Lucy said as she pulled out a silver key. " _Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation - Horologium!_ " And out of the seal came a large grandfather clock with stick-like black arms and the hands on the clock forming a pseudo-mustache.

"So that's how a Celestial Spirit is summoned." Zeke observed.

"So cool!" Happy exclaimed.

Lucy went inside the clock and closed it. She started talking, but the group outside couldn't hear her.

"What was that?" Alyssa asked.

"She says it's too cold so I'm staying in here." The Clock spirit responded.

"Then why did you tag along?" Natsu asked.

Lucy seemingly ignored that question with Horologium's next line. "What kind crazy mission would force Macao to come to a place like this, she asks."

"Last I checked, the Hakobe mission was to slay a giant ape monster known as a Vulcan." Alyssa explained, scaring Lucy a bit.

"On second thought, I want to go back to the guild, she proclaims."

"Go ahead and be my guest, I say back." Natsu stated as he started looking for his guild mate. The group started to yell Macao's name as they looked for him. However, their search was soon interrupted as a Vulcan howled and crashed between them.

"There you are!" Zeke proclaimed as he summoned his longbow and created a few magic arrows. " _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession_!" He unleashed a stream of arrows, but the ape creature managed to evade them. As it landed, the vulcan smelled the air and ran off. To Lucy's shock, the ape lifted the clock spirit she was in and looked at her with an incredibly perverted grin.

"Woman!" It said as he tried to carry the two off.

" _Speed Queen: Tackle_!" Alyssa exclaimed as she shoulder-tackled the vulcan, making the clock and the blonde inside it spun in the air.

"Someone help, she exclaims." Thankfully, Natsu managed to catch the clock and landed.

"So I'm guessing that's the Vulcan, she states."

"Yup. Kinda surprised it can talk though."

"Says the guy who hangs out with a talking cat, she retorts."

Natsu was about to retort, but he noticed a certain familiar scent coming from the Vulcan. Meanwhile, Alyssa and Zeke were fighting the ape with their respective magic. As the orange-haired amazon threw a punch, the vulcan actually managed to catch it.

"Me want real woman!"

An anger vein appeared on her forehead. "What the hell is that suppose to mean!?"

"Just hold him there." Zeke ordered as he gathered up a slightly larger arrow than his usual ones. He loaded the arrow and aimed.  _"Arch Shot..."_

"Wait!" Natsu yelled as he ran towards them. "That Vulcan! It's Macao!"

This temporary distraction gave the Vulcan the chance to smash his fists on the ground, creating a smokescreen. As it cleared, Team Morningstar looked around and saw that the Vulcan had once again taken Horologium and Lucy.

"Oh come on, why me, she asks furiously." The clock spirit relayed as the ape monster got some distance between them.

"So Macao got possessed, huh?" Zeke asked.

"That explains why he's been gone for so long." Alyssa stated.

"Aye." Happy replied.

"Well then." Natsu said as he cracked his fists. "Let's go get our friends back!"

A little while later, the Vulcan had brought Lucy and Horologium into an ice-covered cavern. Said vulcan was also do a crazy dance around them.

"How did I get myself into this mess?" Lucy asked tearfully inside the clock spirit. "And why is this monkey so excited?"

As if in answer to her question, the Vulcan pressed his face against the glass, scaring the blonde girl as he yelled, "Woman!"

To compound matters even more, Horologium disappeared leaving Lucy alone with the Vulcan. "Where did you go Horologium?! Don't you disappear on me!"

_"Sorry, but my time's up. Take care."_  The clock spirit's disembodied voice replied.

"Give me an extension!" She yelled as the Vulcan leered at her. But before the ape could do anything, a green magic arrow flew in between them.

"Leave her alone, Macao!" The vulcan turned only for Natsu to knock him into a wall. Alyssa helped her up as Zeke aimed his bow at the ape.

"You okay, Lucy?" The taller woman asked.

"Ya, thanks for the save guys." Suddenly, she remembered what Natsu said a few seconds ago. "Wait, that monkey is your friend?!"

"Vulcans have the ability to possess people or other animals." Happy explained. "They're evil body snatchers."

"Well, how do we free Macao?" Lucy asked.

"Simple." Alyssa said as she got into a fighting stance. "We beat the Vulcan out of him."

Lucy nodded as she pulled out a golden key. "Let's do it!  _Open, Gate of the Golden Bull - Taurus!_ " From the magic seal came a large humanoid bull with blue shorts who was carrying a large axe. He let out a loud moo and struck a pose.

"Nice." Zeke stated.

"Taurus is the strongest melee spirit I've got a contract with." The celestial wizard said with confidence.

"Oh wow, Miss Lucy. I almost forgot how sexy your body is." The bull said with hearts in his eyes. "Why don't you come over here and give me a smoooooch?"

"Oh yeah." Lucy face-palmed. "I forgot that he's a big pervert too." She turned to Taurus with a serious expression. "Listen, Taurus. That monkey over there is an innocent guy who's possessed. Think you can help in taking him out?"

The bull looked at the Vulcan who was getting back up. He smirked and held out his axe. "No problem, Miss Lucy."

"My woman!" The possessed wizard yelled.

"Big talk ya mooonkey!" Taurus exclaimed as he slammed his axe into floor, causing a tremor that headed for the Vulcan. The ape dodged it, but Alyssa managed to get in front of the dodging Vulcan.

_"Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!"_  In a barrage of super-speed, the amazon hit the ape a hundred times before uppercutting him into the ceiling. The vulcan hit the ground as icicles fell from the floor. As the ape got back up, he unleashed a clap that spread the icicles into the air. Alyssa used her speed to puck some from the air, Zeke used a Rapid Succession Spell to shoot some down, Happy and Lucy jumped out of the way, Taurus swung his axe in arc to slice some and Natsu used his natural body heat to melt any icicles that came near him.

"Your ice attack has no effect!" Natsu yelled as the Vulcan attacked from above. The dragon-slayer blocked the ape fist as he glared at the creature. "Come on, Macao! Snap out of it!"

_"Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!"_  The vulcan was knocked back by Zeke's energy arrows and Taurus swung his axe, the possessed wizard dodging the swings until Alyssa grabbed and locked him from behind.

"Sorry in advance for this." She said as she started using her magic to spin them around at high speeds.  _"Speed Queen: Spin Toss!"_  With all her might, Alyssa tossed the Vulcan into the wall. When the smoke cleared, the ape was laying upside down with swirls in his eyes.

"And three...two...one." Zeke counted down as the Vulcan started to glow, eventually turning back in to Macao.

After he turned back to normal, the team and Lucy were treating his injuries as he lay on a spare blanket.

"He must have put up a good fight before the Vulcan possessed him." Happy stated judging by the wounds on his body that didn't match any of the injuries Morningstar inflicted on him. Macao started to stir a little before opening his eyes.

"Natsu...Happy...Alyssa...Zeke."

"Welcome back." Alyssa said with a smile.

"Ah man. Did I really let a Vulcan possess me?" The older man groaned.

"Yup. Sorry about that." Zeke said.

"Geez I'm pathetic. I was able beat up nineteen of those brutes, but it was the twentieth one that caught me off guard." Lucy was stunned that he managed to beat nineteen of those monsters. "I doubt I can face Romeo like this."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked with a smirk. "You defeated nineteen monsters by yourself. That's something to be proud of."

The older man smirked. "You guys always know how to lighten the mood."

"Well come on." The dragon slayer said as he and the rest of the team got up and he offered his hand. "Your little boy is waiting is for you."

With a smile on his face, Macao grabbed Natsu's hand and was helped back up. "Right."

_**And then...** _

Romeo was walking through the streets of Magnolia as the sun was starting to set. The tears were still coming down his eyes as he thought of the events that lead to his father missing.

_"Fairy Tail wizards are a joke Romeo."_  One bully taunted.

_"Everyone knows they're nothing but a bunch of drunken cowards."_

_"When I get older, I'm gonna be a knight. Not some stupid wizard."_

_"They're all lazy and they smell like booze."_

He then remembered his last conversation with his dad.

_"Please Dad! Just take a mission already! I can't handle the teasing anymore!"_

His dad just smirked and said,  _"Sure thing."_

'I'm so stupid!' The kid thought himself. 'My dad's gone, all because of me!' However, he heard someone calling his name and saw Happy, Alyssa, Zeke, Lucy and Natsu, who was holding up his father by his shoulders.

Overcome with joy, Romeo ran and tackled his father into a hug. "Dad! I'm so sorry! I can handle the bullying!" He cried with tears in his eyes. "Because I'm a wizard's son!"

Macao just patted his son on head in comfort. "No, I'm sorry for making you worry so much." Romeo looked up at his dad and saw his smile. "But the next time those bullies pick on you, ask them this. 'Can your dad beat up nineteen monsters on his own, because mine can.'" Hearing this gave the kid a big grin on his face before he turned to Team Morningstar as they walked off.

"Guys, thanks for bringing my dad back! Lucy, thanks for helping them!"

"No problem." Natsu said as he gave a thumbs up as the rest of the team waved with smiles on their faces.

'Okay, so a lot of the Fairy Tail Wizards can be crazy in their own way.' Lucy thought to herself as they walked off. 'But they're also fun, kind and warmhearted people.' The group approached the guild hall and saw a few wizards there to greet them, Makarov giving the group an approving nod. 'I've only been a member for a day, but I already love it here. And I can't wait for my next adventure.'

(We see chibi versions of Zeke and Lucy in front of the request board.)

Lucy: I can't wait for my first mission!

Zeke: Don't get too excited. The first mission is usually something either stupid or weird.

Lucy: Oh? What was your first mission?

(Zeke's face become sullen as an emo aura came over him.)

Zeke: Let's just say I learned the hard way that you can't milk a Sea Serpent.

Lucy (deadpan): What?

Zeke: Next Time: Infiltrate the Everlue Mansion! I got you in my sights!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: A special thanks for turbine9, Jalis and zorragan for giving this story it's first three reviews as well as favoriting and adding it to their alerts along with Relic Dragon, fangs of death, Blindlight98, Grank, jamaicaking184, jonDarkGhost and miltonski. You guys are great!


	3. Infiltrate the Everlue Mansion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: I own nothing except my OCs and original magic.

_Chapter 3: Infiltrate the Everlue Mansion_

A few days after the Mt. Hakobe incident, Lucy had found a comfy little apartment for herself. Alyssa had offered her a room at Fairy Hills (the women's dormitory for Fairy Tail), but the blonde girl wanted a place to call her own. Currently, she had just got out of a relaxing hot bath and was changing until she heard a knock on her door. "Be there in a sec." She said as she put on a red t-shirt and jeans. After she put on her cloths, she opened her door and saw Team Morningstar.

"Hey Lucy." Natsu greeted.

"What's up?" Alyssa asked.

"Nothing much. I just got out of the bath." The blonde answered.

"Ew. Who takes bathes?" Zeke stated. Lucy just stared deadpan at the archer before asking the team something.

"So why are you guys here?"

"It's a housewarming party!" Happy stated as he held up a fish to her.

"Ya, we decided to officially welcome you to Magnolia." Natsu said. "Although I still think my original idea would have been better."

"Your original idea involved breaking into the apartment instead of knocking." Zeke said.

"So? It would have been funny." The dragon slayer grumbled.

A few minutes later, Lucy had made them tea as the group sat her table. They also noticed some her luggage was still out.

"Sorry about the place." The celestial wizard said. "I wasn't ready to have guests over yet."

"It's alright." Alyssa replied as she drank some tea.

"So, is there a reason you guys came over aside for the housewarming?"

"We'll get to that later. But first..." Zeke pulled out a journal and pencil. "I was wondering if you could show us some more of your Celestial Key Spirits. So far we've seen a talking clock (still trying to figure out how that's even biologically possible), a super-strong bull with an ax, and a fish lady according to Happy."

"Well I can't summon all of them. That would use up all of my magic energy." Lucy explained. Zeke started righting notes in the journal, making Lucy raise an eyebrow.

"Don't mind him." Natsu said. "Zeke's a bit of an egghead when it comes to new magic. By the way, how many keys do you have a contract with anyway?"

Lucy smiled and grabbed her keys. "I've got six in total. Not to brag or anything, but I've even got a few different types." She laid down three silver keys on the table. "These are the kind you can find in any store. So far I've got three of these. Horologium the Clock, Lyra the Harp and Crux the Southern Cross." She then laid down three golden keys. "And these are the gold keys. They're super rare and there's only twelve of them that open the gates of the zodiac. I've got Taurus the Golden Bull, Aquarius the Water Bearer, and Cancer the Giant Crab."

"Giant Crab!" Happy exclaimed, drooling at the thought of giant crab legs.

"So are there only Gold & Silver Keys or are there keys of different colors?" Zeke asked.

"I've only heard of the Gold & Silver keys." Lucy answered. "Hey I know, you guys wanna see how a contract between a wizard and a Celestial spirit is made? I bought a new key back in Hargeon and I still haven't made a contract with it."

"Go ahead." Alyssa said, curious about how the contract worked.

"This isn't some kind of weird blood ritual, is it?" Natsu asked.

"Of course not!" The blonde retorted as she stood up and held out her new silver key. "Now pay attention.  _I call upon thee in the world of the Celestial Spirits. I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the gate!"_  Lucy chanted as a seal appeared under her feet. " _Open, Gate of Canis Minor - Nicola!_ " From out of the gate came a bubble that quickly changed its shape...into a small snow-white creature with a drill nose that was severally shaking.

Team Morningstar had different reactions to this new creature. Natsu and Happy looked at the weird being in shock. Zeke raised an eyebrow as he took down some notes. And Alyssa tried to hold back a laugh but failed and started rolling the ground in laughter while holding onto her sides.

"Nice try." Natsu & Happy said.

"Shut up! I meant to do that!" Lucy then looked down at the shaking creature, looking over it before bringing it into a hug. "Aw, you are such a cutie-patootie!"

"So...that's a being from the Celestial World, huh?" Zeke asked. "Kind of...tame compared to Horolugium and Taurus."

"It doesn't take a lot of energy to summon these little guys, so a lot of celestial wizards keep them as pets."

Happy crossed his arms with a scowl. "This pet talk doesn't sit right with me."

Lucy pulled out a notepad and pencil of her own and faced the spirit. "Alright then, let's move onto the contract. Are Mondays are good day for you?"

The creature made a 'Puupunn' sound as it shook its head. "Tuesdays?" This time it nodded.

Lucy continued to ask the small creature about what times & days were good from him as Morningstar watched.

"Kind of underwhelming." Alyssa said as she watched, having finished her laughing fit.

"More like boring." Her boyfriend followed up.

"Aye." Happy agreed with him.

"And done!" Lucy said as the creature nodded.

"Well that was easy." Natsu commented.

"I know it might seem easy, but it was very important." Lucy explained. "When a contract between a Celestial Wizard and Spirit is made, it becomes an important promise. That's why I always make a priority to keep my promises."

"Nice." Natsu nodded, agreeing with her moral code.

"Now all I need to do is give this little guy a name."

"But isn't his name Nicola?" Happy asked.

"No, that's the name of his species." Lucy said as she started to think. "I got it!" She held out her arms to the creature. "Come here Plue!" The spirits ran into her arms and the two hugged.

"Plue? That's really what you're going with?" Natsu asked. Alyssa started to laugh again.

"What? It's a cute name." Lucy pouted.

"It's kind of weird though. He's a dog, but he doesn't bark." Happy said.

"Well I don't hear you meowing." Lucy said as Plue jumped out her arms and started doing a dance.

"What is he doing?" Zeke asked as he wrote down some more. Natsu looked at the dancing dog* and smiled.

"You're a funny little guy."

"You can understand him?" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

"Natsu has a way with animals." Alyssa stated as Happy nodded in agreement. Zeke put away his pencil and loudly closed his journal.

"Well then, onto the next order of business." The archer turned to the cat. "Happy, if you would be so kind?"

"Aye." The cat saluted as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a tiny trumpet. He started playing a ceremonial tune as the three members of Morningstar stood up and looked at Lucy, confusing the celestial wizard.

"Lucy Heartfilia, you have been officially chosen to join Team Morningstar!" Zeke proclaimed.

"Really?!" She said before suddenly getting confused. "Oh yeah, I been meaning to ask why you guys have been calling yourselves a team."

"Allow me to explain." Happy said as he put his trumpet away. "While everyone in the guild is allied to each other, there are some who get along so well they join together and form teams, like us. Those teams can handle missions that are better suited for bigger parties or even help out other team on extremely dangerous missions."

"That sounds awesome!" Lucy excitingly said. "And you guys really want me join your team?"

"Sure. We all put to a vote last night and you seem like a nice girl." Alyssa stated with a smile.

Natsu held out his fist. "So what do say? You wanna join Team Morningstar?" Zeke and Alyssa held out their fists as Happy floated up with wings and held out his.

"You bet!" Lucy nodded and bumped her fist with theirs, officially joining the team.

"Awesome! And I got our first mission right here!" Natsu handed her a poster, giving Happy a sneaky look as the Happy mirrored it before joining Plue in another dance.

"Let's see. Shirotsume town, that's not too far." The blonde looked at the reward money and her eyes widened. "200,000 jewels just for stealing book from some rich guy named Duke Everlue?!"

"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you, Lucy." Zeke stated. The blonde was confused but keep reading it and saw a picture of a bizarre looking man with a curly mustache and verrrrrry creepy smile.

"Please note: Duke Everlue is a dirty old man who is currently looking for blonde maids." It took a few seconds for the realization to hit her. "HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!"

"Well lucky for us, we happen to know a blonde girl." The dragon slayer said with a mischievous smirk.

"Aye. You can dress up like a maid and sneak us in." Happy followed up.

"If that's your plan, why don't you have Alyssa dress up?" Lucy said as she pointed at the taller woman.

"Because I'm not blonde." The speed queen responded.

'Alyssa in a maid outfit.' Natsu started to think about this girlfriend in such a outfit. Soon, a perverted expression appeared on his face and he blushed. However, his fantasy was interrupted by the real Alyssa lightly pulling on his ear.

"Now, now Natsu. You shouldn't be thinking such lewd thoughts in front of friends." She lectured.

"You're right. Sorry about that." He apologized. Alyssa smiled before leaning in and whispering something into his ear. Whatever she said caused steam to blow out his ears and his entire body turned red.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!" He exclaimed, causing Happy and Zeke to laugh and Lucy to giggle at the couple's interactions.

Meanwhile, another team consisting of Levy, Jet and Droy were looking over the job board with disappointment. "Did someone already take the book stealing mission?" The bluenette asked.

"Sorry Levy." Mirajane said as she was cleaning the bar counter. "Morningstar already took that job earlier. If I'm right, they should be leaving really soon."

"Aw, man." The script wizard groaned. "I could have really used that money."

"Don't despair, Levy." Makarov said as he sat on the counter with a beer mug in his hand. "It's probably for the best. I just got a call from the client and they've changed it up bit."

"Did they cancel it or something, Master?" Mira asked.

""Nope. In fact, quite the opposite. The reward has gone up to 2,000,000 jewels." The small man stated, shocking every nearby wizard.

"Woah! Two million just to steal a lousy book?!" Jet asked.

"That's fighting monsters kind of pay!" Droy followed up.

"Did they give a reason why?" The white-haired barmaid asked. The master only shook his head. Nearby, Grey had heard the whole thing as he cooled his drink with ice magic.

"Sounds like this mission just got interesting."

"Your clothes are gone." Cana stated. The black-haired man looked down and saw that he was in nothing but his boxers.

"DAMN IT! NOT AGAIN!"

_**And then...** _

"You know now that I think about it, this is a pretty easy job." Lucy stated as the group rode in a carriage to Shirotsume. As usual, Natsu was experiencing the negative side effect of being a dragon slayer and was laying in his girlfriend's lap as she stroke his hair.

"I thought you were mad about the job." Happy stated as he was eating the fish he was going to give Lucy earlier.

"Ya, you seem pretty excited now." Zeke said as he sat next to her.

"Well, it is my first job." The blonde said as she pumped her fist in excitement. "I know I'm gonna totally rock it! After all, I just gotta sneak into a mansion and get a book."

"It's also the mansion of a dirty old man." The archer stated.

"That's what makes it so easy." Lucy gave a short pose. "With my good looks, I'll charm my way in no time flat."

"All you humans look alike to me." Happy stated, causing Lucy's eye to twitch.

"Anyway, I think we should talk about our pay scale." The blonde said. "Since I'm doing most of the work, I think we should split it 60: 10: 10: 10: 10."

"You only want 10%?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm the sixty!"

A few hours later, the team had gotten off the wagon as they reached Shirotsume town. "Finally!" Natsu proclaimed. "I am never riding one of those things again!"

"You say that every time." Alyssa retorted as they started to walk into town.

"So, do you guys want to do anything before we meet our client?" Zeke asked.

"Let's grab a bite!" Natsu said as he pointed to a nearby cafe.

"Of course." The brunette sweat dropped.

"Can't you just eat your own fire?" Lucy asked.

"Great idea, and why don't you just eat Plue or Taurus while we're at it?" Natsu asked back.

"Why would I do something like that?!" Lucy exclaimed with a horrified expression.

"It's the same thing really."

Lucy sweat dropped at this. "So you can eat fire, but just not your own? That's kind of weird."

The salmon-haired man pouted and headed for the restaurant. "You coming?"

"Nah, I got something else to do real quick." Lucy said as she started to walk off. "Catch ya later."

"So much for eating as a team." Alyssa said as she crossed her arms.

'Probably thought she'd end up paying for us again.' Zeke thought as the group headed in.

A few minutes later, the group was enjoying their lunch. Natsu was eating several different types of meats, Happy was chowing down on some sushi, Alyssa was enjoying her third bowl of beef noodles and Zeke was just staring at his friends as he held up a burger.

"You would think I'd be used to watching you guys engorge yourselves by now." The brown-haired archer said.

"Hey, you could stand to put some meat on your bones." Natsu said through a mouth of chicken. "And make sure to leave some food for Lucy. She'll need the energy for the mission."

"Let's save all the fat." Happy said. "From the looks of her, that's seems to be what she likes the most."

Alyssa gave a disappointed look at the cat, lecturing with a full mouth of noodles that roughly translated to, "Happy! You shouldn't make fun of a woman's weight!"

"Hold up, cat! What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy's voice called out from behind.

"Oh Lucy, perfect ti..." Natsu started as the group turned and saw Lucy in a maid uniform. To her credit, it was a lot more tasteful then you would think. "Um...wow."

"I know. I look super-cute in this." Lucy said as she started her maid routine. "Have you had enough food Master, or should I bring you some more? Your wish is my command."

"Hmph." Zeke said with a surprised expression. "You actually pull a convincing maid. Congrats."

"You were right about being super-cute." Alyssa smiled at her friend.

"Aw, thanks guys." The blonde girl said bashfully as she saw Natsu had just gone back to eating. "Nothing to add, Natsu?" The salmon-haired wizard turned as the blonde girl winked cutely at him. However, he was unaffected.

"What am I suppose to say?"

"You could say I look cute or something."

"Why? I already have a girlfriend." He said as he swallowed what he was chewing.

"Aw! You're so sweet!" Alyssa blushed as she hugged Natsu and gave him a kiss, making him blush before he decided to kiss back. Zeke and Happy sweat dropped and Lucy giggled at the sweet scene.

_**And then...** _

After lunch, the team went to meet with their client, a man dressed in a black suit, grey hair, and a short mustache. He invited them into his house, group sitting in a couch across from him as his wife stood close by.

"Nice to meet you." The man said. "My name is Kaby Melon."

"I'm Natsu Dragneel." The dragon slayer greeted back. "And your name sounds tasty."

"Dude!" Zeke yelled. "I'm Ezekiel Hudson. You can call me Zeke and I apologize for my friend's comment."

Kaby just chuckled. "It's quite alright. I get that all the time."

'For some reason, that name sounds familiar.' Lucy thought to herself. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

"Alyssa Grunewald." The taller woman greeted herself.

"The name's Happy, and I'm a cat." The blue feline said proudly, making the man and his wife chuckle.

"Yes, I see. I never would have guessed that wizards from the renowned Fairy Tail guild would accept my request."

"I'm more surprised the mission was still up for grabs." Natsu stated.

"Indeed." Kaby replied. "Now, about your mission." He started as Morningstar payed attention. "I only ask one thing of you. I want you to find a book in Duke Everlue's mansion called 'Daybreak' and destroy it. That is all."

"Huh? But the job said you wanted us to steal it." Alyssa stated.

"Well, I am asking you to destroy someone else's property, so it's kind of like stealing."

"Destroying it should be easy enough for us." Zeke said.

"I'm sorry, but do mind if I ask what's so important about this book?" Lucy asked. "I mean a 200,000 reward seems like a lot for just destroying it."

"Actually, the reward has been raised to two million." At this new information, Team Morningstar's collective jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

"TWO MILLION JEWEL!" Natsu exclaimed, his mind figuratively blown. "WOW I SUCK AT MATH, BUT THAT'S A LOT!"

"Wow!" Alyssa said as she started imagining herself in surrounded by all the plushies she could buy.

"I GOT IT!" Zeke proclaimed as he did the calculations in his head. "SPLIT FIVE WAYS, THAT MEANS EACH OF US GETS 400,000!"

"Okay, I take back my 60:10:10:10:10 offer." Lucy dreamily said as thoughts of paying rent and having a crap ton of money left over floated around her head.

"FISH!" Happy said, drooling over all the seafood that he could buy with 400,000 jewel.

"Oh my, it seems you weren't aware of the pay increase." Kaby deduced.

"Hey, for that kind of money, I'll burn down his whole mansion for ya!" Natsu said as he lit his pointer finger on fire.

"No way!" Lucy snapped. "I'm not going to jail for arson."

"We're just going to destroy the book." Zeke stated.

"Thank you." The older man replied. "I can't forgive that book's existence. It must be destroyed."

_**And then...** _

"Excuse me! I heard you had an opening for a maid! Hello?" Lucy shouted as she stood in front of the gates to a fancy mansion. 'This is gonna be so easy. Charm the old geezer with my looks, burn the book and hello 400,000 jewels.'

Nearby, the rest of Team Morningstar were watching from behind some foliage.

"Knock 'em dead, Lucy." Alyssa whispered.

"Good luck." Natsu and Happy whispered together.

"You'll do great." Zeke whispered.

It wasn't long until a giant brute of a maid with pink hair burst from the ground in front of Lucy, freaking the Celestial wizard out. "So you're a maid?" The woman asked.

"Ya." Lucy squeaked.

"I assume you're here because of the master's ad."

Suddenly, something else burst out of the ground.

"Boyoyoyoyo!" The person landed, revealing the strangeness known as Duke Everlue. "Did someone say Master?"

'Holy crap! That mustache is coming from his nose!' Alyssa shouted in her mind, sharing in the shear WTF faces the rest of her team had.

"Let's see here." Everlue said as he looked over Lucy, who was doing a cute pose.

"Well I sure hope you like what you see." The short man continued to stare, creeping Lucy out on the inside.

"Hmmmmm...I'll pass." Everlue said. "Now scram ugly."

And that comment felt like a stab in poor Lucy's pride.

"You heard the man." The giant maid said she lifted her up. "Beat it ugly."

And another stab.

"Sorry, but a man of my standing has certain standards to uphold." Everlue said four more maids popped out of the ground. "That's why I only hire the fairest of the fair."

And at the sight of these 'fair' maidens, Lucy, Natsu, Alyssa and Happy looked in shock while Zeke vomited into a nearby bush. "There goes lunch." He grunted before spewing some more.

**(Please note that the author of this story does not discriminant against anyone based on physical appearances. But to paraphrase the Nostalgia Critic, beauty is in the eye of beholder. And anyone with eyes can clearly see that those maids are ugly as sin. We now return to your regularly scheduled fanfiction.)**

A short bit later, Lucy was crying near a tree as Alyssa patted her back in comfort.

"Well, that plan was doomed from the start." Natsu stated as Happy nodded. Zeke said nothing as he was chugging a water bottle to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth.

"I tried!" Lucy cried out. "But that idiot wouldn't know beauty if it bit him in the ass!"

"Well, then." Zeke said as he wiped his lips. "After Lucy changes out of that maid costume, we go to Plan N."

"Alright!" Natsu exclaimed.

"What's plan N?" Lucy asked. She was answered by Natsu wrapping his scarf around his head so that only his eyes and hair were visible. He made a symbol with his hand as Happy made his ears stand and made the same symbol.

"Ninja!" The two proclaimed, making Lucy sweat drop and Alyssa giggle. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched a security orb.

Twenty minutes later, Morningstar had snuck in through the roof and were now searching for Daybreak. They quickly noticed that every room had something with Everlue's face on it, including the toilet Zeke found.

"This is a whole new level of narcissism." The archer stated. "Also, ew!"

The group reconvened in the foyer as they snuck on a walkway. They also noticed a giant golden statue of Duke Everlue.

"You wouldn't think it'd be this hard to find one book." Alyssa said.

"Maybe we should take a staff member hostage and make them tell us." Natsu suggested.

"I'd rather not get near those 'fair' maidens again." Zeke said as his face turned slightly green. Unfortunately, those same maids burst out of the floor.

"Intruders Virgo!" One of them said as the biggest maid popped out.

"Let's get them girls!" Virgo said as they jumped towards them.

"Oh god no!" The archer yelled as he struck a battle pose. Natsu jumped into the air and ignited one of his fists.

"NINJA POWER!" The dragon slayer yelled as he punched the smaller maids out with one arc swing. Virgo jumped and landed on Alyssa. However, the orange-haired amazon lifted the pink-haired maid up and tossed her into the air before jumping after her.

" _Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Kick!_ " After hitting Virgo 99 times, Alyssa used the final one to knock the gargantuan maid into the ground.

"We mustn't let ourselves be discovered." Natsu stated as his girlfriend landed. "For we are Ninja!"

"Ninja!" Happy repeated.

After that short tussle, the team found a large library and started looking. Natsu and Zeke searched the lower bookshelves, Alyssa used her speed to help look, while Happy and Lucy used the ladders to search the higher ones.

"Say what you will about Duke Everlue, but the guy has good taste in books." Zeke said as put a back an adventure novel he also happened to like.

"This is gonna take forever." Lucy groaned as she looked through the autobiography section.

"Hey guys!" The group turned and saw Alyssa holding up a golden book. "I found it!"

"Have we been here that long?" Happy asked.

"Okay, how should we destroy it?" Natsu asked as he created a fire in his palms. "I say we light it up!"

"Actually, I could probably just tear it apart quickly." Alyssa said as she vibrated one of her hands.

"Well I regurgitated my lunch and part of my breakfast, so I should use it as target practice." Zeke stated as he conjured his longbow.

"Hold on a second!" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed the book from Alyssa and looked at the author's name. "I didn't realize this was written by Kemu Zaleon!"

"Zala-what?" Natsu asked.

"Zaleon was a great wizard and an amazing novelist." The blonde girl stated as tiny stars twinkled at her geek out. "I'm such a big fan! I was totally positive that I'd read every single sentence he'd ever written, but this must be an unpublished novel!"

"Meh." Zeke replied. "I'm more of a James Robinson or Al Ewing fan myself."

"Who cares?" Natsu said as he lit his finger. "It all burns the same to me."

"Don't you dare touch this!" Lucy retorted as she protectively held the book. "It's a great work of literature! You stay away from it, Pyro!"

"But what about our mission?" Happy asked as stared intently at Lucy.

"Forget the mission!" The blonde girl retorted.

"Failure is not an option!" The blue cat exclaimed.

"He's right." Alyssa said. "Let's just trash it."

"Come on, guys. Can't we just stay we burned it and be done with it?" Lucy asked in fear as Natsu glared at her with fire in his hand. "I'll keep it a secret."

"I'm not a liar." Natsu replied.

"Well, well, well. What do you have here?" A voice called out from below them. Suddenly, Duke Everlue burst from the floor. "I knew you brats were after something of mine."

"And this is what happens when take too long." Natsu stated as pointed to the weird man.

"My bad." Lucy sweat dropped.

"But I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed." Everlue continued. "Out of all the treasures you could have stolen, you pick a piece of trash like Daybreak?"

Lucy thought for a second before retorting. "That works out great. If it's trash, you won't mind if we keep it."

"No way! It's still mine!" Everlue yelled.

"Greedy guss." Lucy pouted.

"Shut your trap, ugly." The weird man stated, stabbing Lucy's pride again.

"Then I guess we should destroy it then." Alyssa stated as she glared at Lucy.

"Not gonna happen!"

"Lucy, this our job!" Zeke snapped. "Quit screwing around and let us trash it already!"

"Well then at least let me read it first." Lucy said as she started reading it.

"YOU'RE READING IT NOW!?" Team Morningstar and Everlue yelled.

"Okay, enough of this nonsense! How dare you lay your filthy hands on my property!" The short duke declared. "Come forth, Vanish Brothers!"

A set of bookshelves opened up, revealing two men. One had star-shaped hair, a blue shirt, white pants, an armband and an orange bandana. The other man had a monk-like appearance with four characters on his face, a mostly bald head in a ponytail, a white shirt and black pants. In one of his hands was a large frying pan.

"You called us, sir?" The monk asked.

"Can you believe these brats are from Fairy Tail?" The punk-looking guy asked. "They don't look so tough."

"Judging from those armbands, I'd say you're mercenaries from the Southern Wolves." Zeke stated.

"Observant, aren't you?" The monk retorted.

"Wow, this is.." Lucy whispered as she was reading the book before standing up. "Guys, I need you to buy me some time. I'm not sure yet but I think this book holds some kind of secret."

The group looked at their newest member before looking at each other and nodding. "Alright, but you better go somewhere safe." Natsu replied. The blonde girl nodded and ran out of the room.

This got Everlue's attention. "You two, handle these brats. I'll go after the girl." He said as he sunk into the floor.

"Right boss." The Southern Wolves replied.

"Happy, go help Lucy." Alyssa ordered as she and Natsu struck their own fighting posses as Zeke aimed his longbow. "We'll handle these guys."

"Got it." Happy said as he activated his wings, flying off.

"Pretty big talk for a bunch of punks." The star-haired mercenary taunted.

"Perhaps we should put them in their place." The monk followed up. "Speed, Archery and Fire magic are no difficulty for us."

"Let's just see about that!" Natsu yelled as he charged with a flaming fist, only to be blocked by the monk's frying pan.

"Hate to break it to you, but fighting fire wizards is something we do exceptionally well." The taller mercenary said.

"Then try this!  _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession_!" Zeke proclaimed and fired a stream of magic arrows. The two mercenaries evaded as the punk one aimed a kick at the archer, but Alyssa caught the kick. The amazon and the mercenary traded blows until the monk swung his pan in an arc, knocking Zeke and Natsu out of the room and onto the tongue of the giant golden Everlue statue. And her teammate's sudden departure gave Alyssa's opponent the chance to kick her out of the room and towards her fellow wizards.

"Fairy Tail may be a big time guild," The taller one taunted. "But in the end, you're still just pathetic wizards. You're no match for professionals like us."

"Tough talk for guys who fight with a frying pan." Alyssa retorted.

"Are you mocking us?" The star-haired man yelled.

"Tell me. Do you know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" The monk asked them.

"Motion Sickness?" Natsu asked.

"Needles?" Alyssa asked.

"Gelatin?" Zeke asked, regarding his allergy.

The monk sweat dropped. "I think those are more personal issues. But no. Their weakness is...their bodies!" He jumped towards them and swung his massive pan, destroying the statue's tongue as Morningstar evaded. "Since Wizards have to focus on their mental abilities..."

The taller one came down with a granite shattering punch that they also dodged. "They end up neglecting their physical training, which leaves their bodies weak."

"Against people who train their bodies everyday like us..." The monk started as the combatants landed on the floor.

"Our speed and power far surpass ours." The punk finished.

"Oh, I'm so scared!" Natsu taunted with sarcasm. "So are you gonna talk us to death or actually fight us?" The salmon-haired wizard taunted as gave the come on motions with his hands.

"Hey bro, combo attack?" The punk asked.

"Sounds good to me!" The monk replied as he held the pan out. The taller brother jumped onto the pan and held his hands out.

" _Heaven and Earth Annihilation!_ " The Southern Wolves proclaimed.

"Bring it!" The Fairy Tail wizards exclaimed as they prepared their magic. The shorter brother sent the up with a swing. As soon as the team looked up, the monk charged.

"Look towards heaven and we strike from Earth!" He proclaimed as he swung the giant pan in an arc, hitting the three away but they landed on their feet.

"Face the the Earth and we strike down from Heaven!" The punk said as he came down.

" _Speed Queen: Twister!_ " Alyssa quickly reacted, creating a small cyclone that sent him flying back to his brother.

"You know Wind Magic?" The monk asked in surprise.

"Nope." Alyssa replied. "I'm just really creative with my magic."

"You were the ones going on about a Wizard's mental abilities." Natsu said he sucked in some air. " _Fire Dragon Roar_!"

"Heh. Fire magic." The punk smirked. His brother also smirked as held the pan in front of him.

" _Flame Cooking!_ " He yelled as the fire hit, seemingly absorbing it. "My frying pan absorbs all fire magic and doubles their strength..." He spun the pan and aimed it at Morningstar. "Right back at ya!"

The pan unleashed as massive blast of fire that zoomed towards the trio, causing an explosion.

"Ha ha! Now they,re flame broiled fairies." The star-haired mercenary laughed.

"You would think so." Zeke's voice said from the smoke. Suddenly, the fire started to disappear and the two saw Natsu swallowing the fire. Needless to say, the Vanish Brothers were starting to panic!

"Oh yeah! Now I got some fire in my belly!" Natsu yelled as he charged up his next spell. Zeke and Alyssa did the same.

" _Fire Dragon Wing Attack!_ " Natsu yelled as he jumped and swung two streams of fire.

" _Speed Queen: Twin Twister!_ " Alyssa exclaimed as she spun her hands so fast it caused two twisters to launch from them.

" _Arch Shot: Final Arrow!_ " Zeke yelled as he fired a massive magic arrow.

The three attacks hit, causing every window of the mansion to shatter, the walls to crack and the roof to be damaged, getting the attention of everybody in town. Inside the mansion, the smoke cleared and the trio saw the Vanish Brother charred and pile on the ground.

"I think we might have overdid it." Alyssa said as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Aw man, really?" Natsu asked.

"Ya, that was kind of overkill." Zeke replied. "Well, we better check on Lucy and Happy." The other two nodded, unaware that a nearby Virgo was starting to get back up.

Meanwhile, Lucy was underneath the mansion. Specifically a walkway in the sewer system. She was using an item known as the Wind Reader glasses to read Daybreak at an incredible pace. "I knew this book contained some kind of secret. But I didn't expect this." Suddenly, a pair of hands burst from the wall behind her and grabbed her wrists. Lucy turned her head and saw Duke Everlue partially through the wall.

"Secrets don't make friends you know." The Duke stated. "Now why don't you share that secret with me?"

"No way! A man like you doesn't deserve to know this book's secret! You're an enemy of literature!" Lucy yelled as the rich man added more pressure to his hold.

"An enemy of literature? I am culture's greatest friend! My massive collection of books and art is proof of that!"

"But your ugly maids show you don't know squat about beauty!" The blonde girl proclaimed.

"How dare you!" Everlue said as he tightened his grip more. "My maids are the definition of beauty! Now what secret does this book hold? A treasure map to his buried fortune or something like that? You better tell me or I'll snap your arms like twigs."

Lucy's response was to stick her tongue at the weird man, causing him to pin her to the ground. "Don't get me sassy with me, missy! I'm the one who commissioned Kemu Zaleon himself to write this book for me! Therefore, any secret hidden in the book is rightfully mine!"

The celestial wizard grit her teeth until Happy came in and kicked Everlue in the face, knocking him away from Lucy.

"Happy!" Lucy said with a smile. The blue cat grinned back at her. "That was so cool!" However, Happy's wings disappeared, causing him to fall into the sewer water. "And that wasn't."

"What mockery is this? A flying cat?" Everlue asked.

"The name's Happy." The cat said as he reached into his backpack. "And here's a present for ya!" Happy tossed a clear orb that started to glow until it exploded, causing a lot of rubble.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"A Lacrima grenade." Happy explained "Zeke invited them for me to use in battle. Just add some magic energy and then...BOOM!"

The smoke cleared and Everlue popped from the group. "Okay, I'll admit I wasn't expecting that. Kudos, cat."

Lucy took out one of her golden keys as she held Daybreak in her other hand. "Well it looks like the tables have turned. But if you let us have the book, we'll consider going easy on you."

"So you're a Celestial Wizard?" Everlue asked. "But for a reader, you seem to have confused the phrase. Saying the tables have turned suggests that the weaker party has gained an advantage." He grinned as a brown magic seal appeared behind him. "And even with those bombs of yours, you two still have no chance against my Diver Magic, boyoyoyoyo!" And with that, he vanished in the floor.

"So Everlue's a wizard too." Happy stated as the fat duke keep coming out and attacking them from different angles. Lucy and Happy continued to evade. Happy attempted to hit Everlue with a few lacrima grenades, but the Diver wizard just sunk back in to avoid the explosions.

"I've read your book! It's a horrible adventure novel about a trashy main character named Duke Everlue!" Lucy angrily stated.

"Seriously?" Happy asked, surprised by the duke's massive ego (as if the golden statues of himself wasn't enough proof.)

"I wouldn't go as far as to call the main character trashy, but yes!" The short man replied as he continued to rampage through the sewer like a cannonball. "The story is crap! And to think it was written by the great Kemu Zaleon is inexcusable!"

"How arrogant are you? You forced him to write it!" Lucy said she evaded another attack.

"Arrogant? It should be considered an honor to have me as a main character!"

"Then why did you blackmail him into writing it?" The blonde questioned.

"Blackmail?" Happy asked.

"What's the big deal?" The diver wizard asked as he popped out of a nearby wall, twirling his nose mustache. "It was his own fault for refusing me in the first place."

"Oh really?" Lucy asked with skepticism.

"I told him to write a book with me as the protagonist." Everlue explained as he swam through the floor. "Anyone would have jumped at the chance to have me as their muse. But that idiot had the audacity to refuse me! So I gave him some inspiration in the form of an ultimatum. Either write the book or I would revoke his entire family's citizenship!"

"What?!" Happy asked as Lucy glared at him. Taking away their citizenship would mean none of them would be able to join a guild and make a living. "Do you really have that kind of power?"

"I have the power to do anything I want!" The duke gloated as he disappeared into the ground again. "I got him to write the book, didn't I? But I was still peeved at his first refusal and attitude, so had him write the book in one of my personal prisons, boyoyo! He talked big about being a great novelist who would never give into threats, but in the end, I got what I wanted!"

"You did such terrible things to him just to satisfy your own ego?!" Lucy yelled. "He was locked up for three years! Don't have any idea how hard it must have been for him?"

The short man jumped from the ground in front of them, but Happy tossed another grenade, causing him to sink into the floor and evade again. "Perhaps it took him that long to realize how great I am?"

"Wrong. The truth was that he couldn't stand you, but he swallowed his pride to protect his family. Even if that meant writing your character as a champion of justice."

"You seem to known an awful lot about this." Everlue pointed out. "I'm quite curious how."

"The proof's all in here." Lucy stated as she held out Daybreak.

"I've read that book cover to cover, and Kemu Zaleon is never mentioned."

"That's true. If you read it normally, his name is never mentioned. But you should know that long before Kemu Zaleon was a writer, he was a wizard! And when he finished writing the book, he gathered his remaining strength and cast a spell on the book." She stated, surprising Everlue.

"No, he couldn't have! He must cast a spell that reveals what I did to him!" Everlue reasoned as he attacked again, but the two still dodged him.

"That's true. But the stuff detailing the terrible things you did to him are only a small portion. In fact, the true secret of the book has nothing to do with you!" Lucy said as she held out her key.

"What!?" Everlue yelled.

"That's why I refuse to let you have this book. It was never meant for you to begin with.  _Open Gate of the Giant Crab - Cancer_!" Out of the gate came a snappily dressed man with shades, cornrow hair with antennas, six orange crab legs coming out of his back, and two large crab-themed scissors in his hands.

"It's the giant crab man!" Happy cheered.

"So Lucy, how would you like your hair styled, baby?" The crab spirit asked with a cool voice.

"Not the time." Lucy stated as she pointed at Everlue. "I need your help dealing with this creep."

"You got it, baby." He said as he struck a pose.

"Two can play at that game." Everlue stated as he pulled out a golden key of his own. " _Open, Gate of the Maiden - Virgo!_ "

"That's your trick, Lucy!" Happy said in surprise as a magic seal appeared under Everlue.

"No way!" Lucy yelled.

And with that, Virgo burst out of the floor. "Did I hear my master summon me?"

"So she was a Celestial Spirit?" Lucy asked. However, the three noticed that Virgo wasn't alone. Natsu was on her left shoulder, Alyssa had grabbed her stomach, and Zeke was being held in her right hand.

"What is this absurdity?" Everlue yelled.

"Guys! How did you get there?" Lucy asked.

"Well, she got up and started to attack us. So naturally, we decided to fight back." Alyssa explained. "Next thing we know, we're suddenly in the sewers!"

"But that means...you guys must have passed through the Spirit World and then through a gate. THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" The blonde freaked out.

"Can you guys finish this conversation later?" Zeke choked out as Virgo held him. "I think she's crushing my ribs."

"Virgo, clean up this trash!" Everlue ordered.

"As you wish master." The giant maid replied. However, Happy tossed a lacrima grenade at her right arm, making her let go of Zeke and the archer escaped.

"Payback time!" He summoned a group of arrows and aimed. " _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ " Natsu and Alyssa jumped out of the way as the stream of arrows hit the maid.

"Take this you gorilla!" Natsu yelled as he and Alyssa charged. " _Fire Dragon Iron Fist_!"

" _Speed Queen: Momentum Punch!_ " The orange-haired woman yelled as she and her boyfriend hit the large spirit with their combined attacks, sending her flying.

"Inconceivable!" Everlue shouted at the defeat of his maid. Suddenly, Lucy wrapped her whip around him.

"No escaping this time!" Lucy tossed him into the air and Cancer jumped after him, attacking with his scissors. The three landed, Everlue knocked out and completely bald. "Evil men like you have no right to be in one of Kemu Zaleon's stories."

"What do you think of this new look, baby?" Cancer asked, referring to the unconscious duke.

"Way to go, crab man!" Natsu complemented with a smirk.

"Another one of your spirist?" Zeke asked. But before they could continue, the mansion started coming apart from the day's battles. "And that's our que to leave!" The group ran, evaded the collapsing debris as they made it out, the mansion crumbling behind them.

"Looks like you're going to fit right in a Fairy Tail." Alyssa said to Lucy as they watched the mansion collapse.

"But aren't we suppose to not destroy stuff?" Happy asked.

"I don't really fell bad about destroying the house of that scumbag." Zeke stated.

"I hope the master doesn't blame me for this." Lucy cried.

"Whatever. Let's just head back to Mr. Melon." Natsu suggested as the group started to leave, not noticing that Virgo was watching them from the rubble.

_**And then...** _

It was now nighttime as Team Morningstar was sitting around a campfire, waiting for their food to finish cooking. After they had returned to Kaby's place, he was angry that the group hadn't destroyed the book like he requested and Lucy revealed that he was Kemu Zaleon's son. Kaby mentioned that he would destroy Daybreak himself since his father said it was complete trash. Surprisingly, Natsu was offended that Kaby was still going to destroy the last thing his father ever wrote, something the dragon slayer would kill for himself. The older gentlemen proceeded to tell the group about how his father came home and cut his own arm in shame of the utter garbage he had written, ending with him the hospital and Kaby yelling at him for abandoning his family, that being that last conversation they had before he died. He then went on to explain about how his anger and resentment slowly turned into regret and remorse, leading him to believe that destroying the book that caused his family so much grief would be what his father wanted.

However, Lucy said he was wrong as the book started to change thanks the spell Kemu Zaleon AKA Zekua Melon had cast all those years ago, changing the title from  _Daybreak_  to  _Dear Kaby_. Lucy explained that the spell Zekua cast had rearranged the letters so that no else but Kaby would be able to read it. That the book was actually a three year letter that Zekua had written. A masterpiece detailing all the things he ever wanted to say to his son. As the spell finished, Kaby remembered the last words his father said.

_"I thought about you the entire time I was gone."_

Overcome with emotion, Kaby held onto the book that he now knew was his father's greatest work. He swore he would never let any harm come to it. He offered the team the reward, but much to Lucy's shock, the team refused. Zeke explained that the group had technically never completed their mission, so they shouldn't get a reward for not finishing a job. Lucy complained a bit, but the group stated that they had Fairy Tail's rep to think about. As it turns out, it didn't matter anyway, since Kaby and his wife were just borrowing the mansion of one of their friends to hide the fact that they didn't have any money. Even after that, Lucy still knew that they would have helped Kaby even without the reward.

"By the way..." Lucy asked Natsu in the present. "How did you know that wasn't their house?"

"That's easy. The house didn't smell like them." The dragon-slayer stated as he pulled his cahbob out of the campfire.

"That's it?"

"Pretty much."

As the group started to eat dinner, Alyssa turned towards Lucy. "So you're a big book fan, right?"

"That's right." Lucy replied.

"So that's what all those papers on your desk were." The blonde girl was confused at the taller woman's statement. "I saw them when we were back at your place. I'm guessing that's the story you're writing."

The celestial wizard's cheeks turned red with embarrassment and she covered her face with her hands. "Please don't tell anyone!"

"Why not?" Zeke asked.

"Because I'm a horrible writer and I would die of embarrassment if anyone read it." She whimpered.

"Oh come on. It's not like you wrote smut." Zeke stated. However, this only made Lucy's face redder. "Wait, did you seriously write smut?"

"NO! I mean...that is...it's just a few love scenes! But they're not even explicit!" She yelled out.

"Don't worry, we won't tell anybody." Natsu chuckled, happy about the group bonding.

The next day, the group was walking through a swamp while Lucy was inside Horolugium. Since Natsu refused to take another wagon ride, Zeke said that he knew a shortcut back to Magnolia. However...

"I'm pretty sure we've past that u-shaped tree before. Are you sure you know where you're going, Zeke, the lady inquires."

"Of course I do." The brunette said as he held out a compass-like device. "It's the job of every Hudson to known Fiore like the back of their hand."

"What do you mean every Hudson, she asks."

"Please don't ask." Natsu grumbled.

"I'm glad you asked." Zeke said as Natsu, Alyssa and Happy face palmed. "You see, the Hudson family has a long history of extraordinary people. Starting from my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, the explorer Reginald Hudson to my mother, the Grand Knight Amelia Hudson."

"Amelia? You mean the Royal Knight that led the battle against the army of Golems?! She asks in surprise."

"The very same." Zeke said with pride as his longtime friends groaned. While for the most part, Zeke was considered as the more rational of their group, you get him talking about his family's history and he never shuts up. "And then there was my great aunt Silica Hudson, who was vital in pioneering of..."

"Dude! Focus!" Alyssa and Natsu yelled, snapping Zeke out of his tirade.

"Oh right. Sorry about that guys." He said as he scratched his head in embarrassment. "Anyway, we should be coming out of the swamp in a bit."

And indeed the group had exited the swamp and were now in a forest area. But as they trekked on, Natsu heard something moving in the bushes and jumped it. To their surprise, it actually Gray. To no one's surprise, he was just in his boxers.

"What's the big idea?!" Gray yelled. "Can't I go to the bathroom in peace?"

"So that's what you were doing?" Natsu yelled. "Who takes off their clothes to go to the bathroom?"

"It's not like I meant to do that! And I certainly didn't want to bump into you, Flame Breath!"

"Say that again, Ice Prick!" Natsu yelled back as the two bumped heads and glared at each other. As the two keep calling each other names, the rest of Team Morningstar just watched. Gray later explained that he was on his way back from a job and confirmed Zeke's shortcut.

"I should head back. And so should you." Grey said to the team.

"Why's that?" Natsu asked.

"Because Erza's on her way back."

An anger tick appeared on Alyssa's head as she grit her teeth. "Oh really? How...wonderful." She said with a passive aggressive look.

"Aw man." Natsu and Zeke sighed.

"Erza? As in the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, Erza?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"She wishes." The speed queen said under her breath.

"You know, I've never seen pictures of her in Sorcerer Weekly. What's she like?"

Gray suddenly became sullen. "She's a monster."

"Oh come on. You're not still scared of her, are you?" Natsu asked.

"Hey, unlike you guys, I'm not stupid! Erza's crazy strong!" The Ice wizard panicked. "She could destroy a mountain with one punch!"

"Quit exaggerating." Zeke picked his ear with a bored tone. "At most, she can destroy a plateau and with multiple punches, not just one."

"Either way, she still sounds strong." Lucy whimpered, imagining the aforementioned woman as a giant monster rampaging through town.

However, this conversation was interrupted as the group was ambushed by a large wave of sand.

"Okay, where did that come from?!" Zeke yelled as he climbed out of the sand. Alyssa spun her way out and then proceeded to help Natsu out.

"Wait, where's Happy?" Lucy asked, noticing their feline friend was nowhere to been seen.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled with some sand in his mouth. He sniffed the air bit before running. "I got his scent."

Speaking of Happy, things were not looking good as he was being held over an unlit fire pit like a goose. The group that kidnapped him consisted of a gray elf-like man, two identically dressed twins, a man holding a glass orb, and a man who looked like a chicken and was holding a fire staff.

"Alright, boys! We found tonight's dinner!" The elf guy said.

"Sweet." One of the twins replied.

"No berries for us tonight." The other twin said.

"I see a feast in our future." The man with the orb stated as the chicken man just squawked.

"Please, you guys don't want to eat me!" Happy cried. "I'm small and haven't taken a bath in a day. I'll probably taste weird and I won't go down easy! So please don't eat me!"

"Don't care." The elf replied before addressing the chicken man. "Light the fire."

The chicken man squawked and held out his staff, lighting the end of it with fire magic.

"Hey, assholes!" The vagabonds turned and saw Team Morningstar and a now fully-clothed Gray standing on a nearby rock edge. "You better think twice before you decide to eat my pal!"

"Natsu! Alyssa! Zeke! Lucy! I'm saved!" Happy cheered. "Oh and guess Gray too."

"HEY!"

"There's no way we're letting our dinner go! Get them!" The elf yelled as the two groups started to fight. The elf managed to capture Natsu in a Sand Tomb spell as Gray was fighting the twins, who had each pulled out a dagger. Zeke was facing off against the orb guy but instead of fighting he said something weird.

"I see you meeting your true love very soon, but also some problems with water."

"You read my fortune?" The archer asked. "Is that all you do?"

"Pretty much." And with that, Zeke knocked him out with just his longbow.

Lucy was untieing Happy as the chicken man was about to attack. Only to be halted by Alyssa.

"Eat this, Chicken Man!" The orange-haired woman said as a she gave him an uppercut, knocking him out and sending a few feathers flying.

"Oh no, this is not good!" The sand wizard said as his fellow vagabonds were falling. Even worse, Natsu burst free from the Sand Tomb, pissed even more.

"Okay, now you've made me mad!  _Fire Dragon Iron Fist!_ " He ignited his fist and charged, knocking the elf into a tree.

"Well, that was easy." Gray said.

"Why are you naked?!" Lucy yelled, causing Gray panic over his sudden state of undress. A minute later, the ruffians were tied up to a tree.

"There, there." Alyssa said gently as she gave Happy a confronting hug and petted his head. "It's okay, Happy. You're safe."

"Anything?" Natsu asked as Zeke looked through an information Lacrima.

"Nope. These guys aren't wanted or anything big. Probably just some wizards down on their luck." The archer replied.

"That's still no excuse for trying to eat Happy." Lucy said as she glared at the mostly unconscious wizards.

"Well, look on the bright side."

"What bright side?" Gray asked, having put his clothes back on.

"According to my fortune, I'm going meet the love of my life soon." Zeke said with a smile, making the Ice Wizard stare deadpan.

"Well...good for you."

"Lu...lula..." The elf groaned, getting the group's attention.

"What did you say?" Lucy asked. "What's Lula?"

"Lul...laby."

As soon as he said this, a shadow came out from the deeper part of the forest and moved under the tree. The shadow shifted into a hand shape and closed, dragging the tree into the ground and crushing the vagabonds.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Lucy, Happy and Grey yelled.

"Natsu!"

"I'm on it!" The dragon-slayer replied to the archer, quickly sniffing the air around them. "Damn it! The scent has already become faint. Whoever did this is already long gone."

"Did you have his scent at least?" Alyssa asked.

"Ya. Ancient Wood and Sulfur." Natsu said as the group looked at the sunken tree, a sudden sense of looming doom coming over them.

"Lullaby? Just what is that?" Lucy worrying asked.

(We see chibi versions of Gray and Zeke in front of the request board.)

Zeke: Thanks for helping with the shortcut Gray. I was starting feel stupid.

Gray: No problem. But I though it was the job of every Hudson to know Fiore like the back of their hand?

(Looks at the back of his hand in confusion.)

Zeke: It is odd. I don't remember having a pimple there.

Gray: You're suppose to be the smart one, right?

Zeke: Smart enough to know that you're naked again.

Gray: OH COME ON!

Zeke: Next Time: Team Morningstar vs. Eisenwald! Let's show them how we kick ass in Fairy Tail!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: DAMN! This one of the longest chapters I've ever had to write! But I wanted to get the Everlue story in one chapter so I could get to the Lullaby Arc. Also, I used this chapter from some comedy, establishing character and setting up events differently than the canon story. Plus, the stuff with Kaby Melon always makes me tear up a little. Also, don't misconstrue Alyssa pulled Natsu's ear as the Double Standard Women can Hurt Men in Anime bullshit. The tug wasn't even painful, just a slight sensation to get our favorite dragon-slayer out of his perverted thoughts
> 
> *I don't care what they say. There is no way in hell that Plue is a dog!
> 
> And to DraigTrueEmperor9, I am not giving Zeke his own requip or making Alyssa have Take Over Magic as her secondary magic. I have my own plans to increase their magic arsenal.
> 
> Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts everyone! See ya next time!


	4. Team Morningstar vs Eisenwald

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 1: I own nothing except my OCs and original magic.

Zeke groaned as his alarm started to ring. Still a bit tired, the archer turned off his alarm and walked towards his window, opening it to reveal the morning sun. Team Morningstar had just come back from the Everlue job yesterday and the brunette was looking forward for another day at Fairy Tail. His room was pretty standard. A desk/bookshelf containing some of his favorite literary works, a few mechanisms spread over the room, and two pictures on his dresser. The first picture showed Team Morningstar when they were younger, Zeke wearing a pair of spiral-patterned glasses and Alyssa being the smallest of the group along with a silver-haired girl and another brown-haired boy. The other picture had Zeke as a kid as he was in the arms of his smiling parents.

After getting dressed and grooming himself, the archer wizard walked down the stairs and smelled something cooking as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, bud." A man in his late 40s greeted him. He was a large man with brown hair and a matching beard with brown eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses. He wore a white undershirt and black sweatpants. He also had a blue Fairy Tail mark on his left forearm. This was Lyle Hudson, father of Ezekiel Hudson and husband to Amelia Hudson. "One of your friends showed up."

Zeke raised an eyebrow and turned to see Happy on their dinner table eating a cooked fish. "Good morning, Zeke."

"Morning Happy." Zeke said as he sat down at the table. "So what brings you our humble abode?"

"Natsu and Alyssa are on a date and I didn't want to feel like the third wheel." The cat answered.

"Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Happy said with a smile. "Natsu promised that he would take me fishing after our next mission."

"Good for you." Zeke smiled as his dad put down a platter of pancakes.

"Kind of early for date though." Lyle said as he sat down.

"Aye. But then again those two aren't a usual couple."

"That's true." Lyle chuckled, having known his son's teammates for years. "By the way, I talked with Amelia last night and she said she should be able to visit next week."

Hearing this brought a smile to Zeke's face. "Mom's coming home? Awesome!"

After the three had finished breakfast (and Lyle had changed into a blue polo shirt, black slacks and brown shoes), they headed for Fairy Tail and saw that the place was lively as ever.

"Lyle, you old son of bitch!" Wakaba said as the two shook hands. "Finally back from that Translation mission in Bosco, huh?"

"Well ancient Vulandrian isn't exactly the most easy to decipher." The bespectacled man replied before seeing his other friend. "Macao! I heard you beat nineteen vulcans! Pretty impressive."

"Thanks." The blue-haired man said as the two shook hands.

"Hey, Zeke. Happy." Lucy said as she greeted the two.

"Morning Lucy." The two greeted.

"Have you guys seen Natsu and Alyssa?"

"They're on a date." Zeke answered, the blonde girl nodding in understanding. The archer then motioned to his father. "Anyway, I'd like to introduce to someone. Lucy, this my dad Lyle. Dad, this is Lucy Heartfilia, the newest member of Team Morningstar."

"Nice to meet you." Lucy said with a smile.

"The pleasure's mine, Ms. Heartfilia." The older gentlemen said with a bow before whispering into his son's ear. "She's pretty cute, don't you think?"

"What are you getting at?" Zeke whispered back.

"I'm saying I don't see a ring on that finger." Lyle said with a grin, making his son flabbergasted. "Haha, just pulling your leg buddy." He said with a pat on the back.

"Don't joke about that kind of stuff, Dad!" The archer exclaimed as his teammates chuckled.

"Well then, what else have you got going on?" Macao asked as the three friends sat down at a table.

"Well, a certain Royal Knight is coming to town next." The bearded man stated.

"Amelia's coming back? That's great! A good old Team Crosshair reunion!" Wakaba exclaimed, referring to their old team. "Let's celebrate. Hey Mira! Three beers over here!" He called out to the passing by barmaid.

"It's ten in morning." Lyle stated with a sweat drop. "Don't you think it's a wee bit early to get plastered?"

"Oh, lighten up." The smoke wizard replied. "Make that two beers and a water."

"Sure, coming right up!" The cheerful woman said as she approached.

"And how about a date while we're at it?" He followed up, blowing out heart-shaped smoke from his pipe. This made his friends slap their heads.

"Really?" Macao asked. "You do this everyday."

The white-haired barmaid just smiled as she placed their drinks on the table. "But Wakaba..." Mira was covered in and transformed into an older lady. "You already have a wife at home."

"Will stop turning into my wife?! It's freaky!" Wakaba jumped back his friends chuckled.

"It's always so noisy in here. Can't a girl drink in peace?" Cana asked as she brought her drip to her lips, only to find it empty. "Damn, empty already."

"Maybe it's a sign that you shouldn't drink so much." A lilac-haired girl named Laki commented.

"Oh shut up." The brunette groaned as a certain ice wizard passed by their table, making the two women blush in embarrassment. "Gray, your clothes are gone."

"OH CRAP!" The black-haired man said, rushing to get redressed.

At the job request board, the three members of Team Morningstar were looking for the right job.

"I didn't know wizard jobs were so varied." Lucy stated.

"It's not all fighting monsters." Zeke replied.

"Aye."

"Hey, Lucy." The three turned and saw Loki walking towards them. The playboy grabbed Lucy's hand and held it close to his face. "If you're still looking for a team, how about you and me form a team of love?" Before he could kiss her hand, the celestial wizard quickly pulled away.

"Ya, no thanks." Lucy replied as she motioned to her friends. "I've already joined Team Morningstar."

"Such a shame." The orange-haired man said as he pressed up his sunglasses. "A princess like you joining a team of trouble makers like them."

"If anyone's a trouble maker, it's you." Zeke stated, annoyed by the ring wizard. "Or do I need to remind you of what happened when you flirted with Alyssa?"

Loki's body suddenly became pale as he remembered the day he flirted with the speed queen. It ended up with him going through a wall, third degree burns and a major bruising to his nards. He could recall the yell of a certain dragon slayer.

_"So you think it's okay to hit on someone else's girlfriend!? Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"_

"Please don't mention that again!" The ring wizard begged. "I still have nightmares from that day!"

"And yet you still haven't learned your lesson." Happy said.

"Yes I..." He then thought back to how many women he had hit on, and remembered that a few of them were already taken. "Okay, you made your point. But I can't help myself. When I see a beautiful woman, my heart aches at their divine presence! Is it wrong to try and share my love?"

"You're confusing love with flings." Zeke stated. "Me personally, I'd rather have a serious relationship with one girl than be a lecherous playboy."

"And how many girlfriends has that attitude got you?" Loki asked with a smirk. "Oh right, zero. So anyway, Lucy..." He turned to her (ignoring the glare Zeke was giving him) and was about to flirt with her again, but he noticed the key ring on her belt. "Ah! You're a Celestial Wizard!?" He recoiled in shock.

"Ya, what of it?" Lucy asked, confused at his reaction. The orange-haired playboy turned away and ran, tears falling out of his eyes as he ran out of the guild hall.

"What a cruel twist of fate! I'm sorry, but we can never be together!" He cried dramatically.

"Okaaay, that was weird." Lucy stated with a sweat drop.

"Rumor has it that Loki had a relationship with a Celestial Wizard that ended on bad terms." Happy stated.

"Makes sense." The blonde replied as the three went back to looking for a job.

_Meanwhile..._

_"Dare! Dare to believe you can survive!"_  Natsu and Alyssa sang together. The two had come to a local karaoke place for their date and were drawing a crowd.  _"You hold the future in your hand! Dare! Dare to keep all of your dreams alive! It's time to take a stand!"_ The two sung as the crowd applauded.

A few minutes later, the two were walking through the streets, their arms linked.

"That was so much fun!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"Can't argue with you there." Natsu replied. "Sorry I couldn't take you somewhere more extravagant. Maybe we should have taken a little bit of Mr. Melon's reward money."

"It's fine." The amazonian woman said. "As long as you're with me, anyplace is great."

Natsu blushed and gave his signature smile. "You're awesome." He said before leaning up and kissing his girlfriend's marked cheek, making her giggle. However, this tender moment was interrupted by a certain ring wizard running past them as he screamed.

"Was that Loki?" The speed queen asked.

"Yup. And it looks like he's headed for the guild." The dragon slayer observed as the couple ran after their fellow wizard. Unbeknownst to them, a red-haired woman in silver armor and a blue skirt was walking through town, carrying a large decorated horn over her shoulder and wearing a serious expression on her face.

Back at the guild, Zeke, Lucy and Happy were sitting at the bar, chatting with Mirajane as they waited to tell their teammates about their new mission. Mirajane had told them about how Master Makarov had left for the Guild Master's Conference in Clover and explained to Lucy the nature of the Dark Guilds, wizard guilds unauthorized by the Magic Council but still operated, usually doing underhanded jobs. Everyone in the guild was doing their normal routine until Loki slammed the door opened.

"GUYS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" The playboy exclaimed with a panicked expression. "Erza...she's back." Everyone except Lyle, Zeke, Happy, Mira and Lucy froze in fear and started to panic a little. The most scared one was Gray as he started sweating severely.

"She's back?" A voice behind Loki said causing him to jump and turn, seeing Natsu and Alyssa.

"Ah! Where did you guys come from?"

"We saw you screaming through the streets and followed you." Alyssa said before scowling. "So Ms. Tincan is back. That's just freaking fantastic." The couple joined their friends at the bar.

"Well, it's official." Zeke said as he rubbed his forehead. "Today is gonna suck."

"Aye." Happy said with little to no energy.

"Everyone else is scared at just the mention of her name." Lucy stated. "But you guys just look annoyed."

"That's because she's not really scary." Natsu replied. "Once you realize that the worst she can do is beat us up, the fear of her tends to fade."

"She won't be beating up anybody if I have anything to say about it." Alyssa grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. The sound of metal boots clanking against cobblestone was heard as most of the guild started to sweat.

"That sounds like Erza." Laki muttered in fear.

"Those are definitely her footsteps." Wakaba said as he bit down on his pipe.

The entire guild watched as the red-haired woman walked into the guild hall. She placed the giant horn the ground, making a loud noise at it hit the floor.

"I have returned." She said as she looked around. "Where is Master Makarov?"

"Welcome back, Erza." Mirajane greeted with her usual cheery demeanor. "The master already left for the conference in Clover. He should be back by tomorrow."

"I see." The armored woman said.

"So, what is that?" A wizard asked, pointing to the giant horn.

"It's the horn of a monster I defeated. The locals were nice enough to decorating it in a show of gratitude." She looked back at the man. "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all!" The man answered in a panic.

"She doesn't look as monstrous as you guys described." Lucy whispered to her team.

"Looks can be deceiving." Natsu whispered back.

"She's probably heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe." Lyle whispered to Macao.

"I'm screwed." He whispered to himself as he started to sweat.

"Listen up!" Erza addressed the guild with a stern expression. "During my travels, I've heard that Fairy Tail has been causing trouble again. While the master may not care, I do!" She turned her attention to Cana, who was drinking out of wine barrel.

"Cana! If you keep drinking like that, you'll blow out both of your livers!" She then turned to a dancing man.

"Vijeeter! Take the dancing outside!" She turned to Wakaba. "Wakaba, get rid of that filthy habit!" The older man dropped his head on the table. Erza then turned to Nab, who was standing by the request board. "Nab, I figured you would be by the board. Stop being indecisive and pick a job already!" The tribal looking man nodded in fear as she turned her attention towards Macao.

"Macao!" She said, making the blue-haired man sweat as she said nothing and just sighed.

"Please just say something!" He whimpered.

"I don't even know what to say." The redhead groaned as she rubbed her forehead. "You've caused so much trouble."

"It's like she's a one-woman disciplinary committee." Lucy whispered to her team, the other agreeing.

"Now, are Gray and Team Morningstar here?" Erza asked. A few scared wizards pointed to the ice mage and the team.

'Traitors!' Natsu screamed in his mind.

"Hey, Erza." The half-naked man said as he shook like crazy. "What's up?"

"Frostbite still hasn't gotten over the beating Erza gave him years ago." Natsu whispered to Lucy.

"No kidding. He picked a bad day to walk around nude." Zeke whispered.

'To be fair, I kind of understand.' The blonde girl thought, thinking back her first reaction as seeing Gray naked.

Erza then turned her attention towards Team Morningstar, making Lucy flinch as the rest of teammates did nothing. "Ah, Alyssa. Nice to see you're eating healthy."

A vein appeared on the speed queen's head. "What's that suppose to mean?" She asked as she approached the redhead.

"Oh nothing. I think it's great that you're not self-conscious about your body."

"Tough talk coming from someone so insecure about their femininity that she has to hid behind a cheep set of armor." The orange-haired woman retorted as she leaned down, pressing her head against Erza's.

"Oh, so the woman who out-muscles every man in the guild except Lyle and Elfman wants to talk about femininity!" The redhead scowled as she pressed back. "And for your information, this armor is a one-of-kind custom made!"

"Ya, and it still looks cheep!" The amazon replied as figurative sparks came from the two's eyes as the growled at each other.

"Anyone else getting a sense of deju vu?" Happy asked.

"Ya, they're kind of like Natsu and Gray." Lucy stated.

"Please don't compare me to her." Gray requested.

After a few more seconds of scowling, Erza moved back from Alyssa and looked at the whole team. "Now I know we've had our...disagreements in the past. But right now, I have a serious favor to ask you guys. While was in Onibas, I heard something troubling. Normally I would consult with the master about this, but since he's out at the moment, I figured the five of you would be the next best approach."

This statement shocked everyone in the guild, especially the aforementioned wizards.

'What would worry Erza so much that she would willingly work with us? Especially Alyssa?' Zeke pondered. "Team, group huddle! That means you too, Lucy!"

The five of them huddled together and started whispering. After a minute or so, the group broke and looked at Erza. "Mira, cancel our bandit mission." Zeke said before continuing. "As of this moment Team Morningstar has formed a temporary alliance with Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet."

"Sure thing." Mira responded with stunned expression.

"Meet me at the train station tomorrow morning." Erza ordered. "I wil explain the details there."

"Hold on!" Gray exclaimed.

"You have a problem?" Erza asked with a glare, making the ice wizard shake his head no in fear.

"Erza...Natsu...Alyssa...Zeke...and Grey." Mirajane whispered to herself, catching Lucy's attention. "With the five of them joining up, this might just be the strongest team in the history of Fairy Tail!"

"EEEEHHH!?"

'Stay strong, my son.' Lyle thought as he looked at Zeke with a serious expression. 'I have a feeling you're going to need it.'

_**And then...** _

"AHHH! What was Erza thinking?!" A certain salmon-haired dragon slayer yelled as Team Morningstar and Gray were waiting at Magnolia Station the next day. "Working with you is the worst!" Natsu yelled at the fully clothed ice wizard.

"Hey, I'm not happy about this either, Pyroboy!" Gray yelled back.

"Ice Prick!"

"Fire Crotch!"

As the two argued, the rest of the team just stared at the two. "There they go again." Happy commented.

"Don't they ever get tried of yelling at each other?" Lucy asked.

"I've know these guys since we were kids." Zeke replied. "They've been fighting since then and I don't think they'll ever stop."

Lucy sighed and turned towards Alyssa, who was staring off with a bored expression. "Hey, Alyssa." She started, getting the speed queen's attention. "Is there a reason you have a grudge against Erza?"

Alyssa blinked before sighing. "It's not that I hate her or anything. It's just that we were never on the best of terms when we were kids."

"You weren't on good terms with Mira, but now she's your best friend." Happy stated.

"That's different. Mira apologized for what she did. I've never heard Erza apologize even once." The orange-haired amazon said, confusing Lucy since Mirajane was one of the nicest people in the guild.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone." Erza's voice said. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"It's o-" Lucy turned and was shocked at what she saw, which was Erza pulling a large cart of luggage behind her. "THAT'S A LOT OF LUGGAGE!"

"Well let's go good buddy!" Gray cheered with a fake smile as he wrapped his arm around Natsu, angering the dragon slayer.

"Take your arm off me before I burn it off." Natsu said through gritted teeth.

"Ah, it's good to see you two getting along." Erza said with a smile.

"Are you kidding? I'd take a bullet for this guy." The ice wizard said as he sweated.

"That's a lie and you know it." Natsu replied.

"Shut up." The black-haired man whispered.

Erza turned her head and saw the flabbergasted blonde girl. "Oh, you're the new girl. What was your name again? Lu...Lu...Luigi."

"It's Lucy!" The blonde corrected.

"That's it." The redhead said. "Why are you here?"

"She's the newest member of Team Morningstar!" Happy proudly stated.

"Oh, I see." Erza said with surprise as she examined the girl. "Normally I'd be against bringing a newbie on a mission like this, but you must something special if these guys let you join their team."

'Was that a complement?' Lucy asked in her head.

"Look, Erza." Alyssa said as she walked towards the redhead. "For the sake of the mission, I'll try to get along with you." The taller woman then pointed at her with a determined expression. "But when this is all over, you and I are gonna have a rematch! One on One!"

The speed queen's statement surprised everyone.

"Does your girlfriend have a death wish?" Gray asked Natsu, who said nothing as he looked at the orange-haired woman.

"I've gotten a lot stronger now." Alyssa stated as she clenched her fist. "So don't except an easy win this time."

Erza was stunned but then a smirk appeared on her face. "As much I hate to admit, I can tell that you've indeed gotten a lot stronger since our last bout." The two stared down each with matching determined expressions as the redhead held out an armored glove. "Very well, when this mission is over, the two of us will fight. May the best woman win."

Alyssa smirked and shook her hand. "Don't worry. I plan to."

"OH YEAH!" Natsu yelled as his head lit on fire, also setting a part of Gray's jacket of fire. "I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW! LET'S GO!"

A few minutes later, Natsu's tone was different as he laid on his girlfriend's lap, her caressing helping him deal with his severe motion sickness as they rode the train. Sitting next to them was Zeke reading a novel and Happy polishing one of his Lacrima bombs. Across from them was Gray staring out the window, Lucy who had Plue in her lap and Erza looking at the couple.

"You know, I can help you with your motion sickness." The armored woman stated.

"No way!" Alyssa exclaimed. "The last time you said that, you just punched him in the stomach!"

"What? He can't be motion sick if he's unconscious." Erza replied, not seeing the fallacy in her logic.

"Please no." Natsu groaned.

"You just traded one form of agonizing pain for another." Zeke stated as he turned a page, not caring about the glare Erza was giving him. Feeling that the tension was high, Lucy decided to ask Erza a question.

"So what kind of magic do you use, Erza? There was no info about it in Sorcerer Weekly."

"Erza's magic is really pretty." Happy stated. "It makes her enemies bleed a lot."

"How is that pretty?" The celestial wizard asked.

"It's not that great." The armored woman stated. "Personally, I think Gray's magic is more beautiful."

Hearing this got the Ice Wizard's attention and he decided to give a demonstration. He held his left hand out and placed his right fist against his palm. After creating some frost, he removed his fist and revealed an ice sculpture of the Fairy Tail emblem. "It's no big deal. Just Ice Magic."

"So you use Ice and Natsu uses fire." Lucy stated. "That's why you guys don't get along. You guys are opposite elements."

"I've never thought of it that way." Erza replied.

"Nah, I just hate his guts." The rivals said as they briefly glared before Natsu's motion sickness kicked back in.

"So, are you going tell us the mission details?" Zeke asked Erza as he put in a bookmark and closed his novel.

"We're going up against the dark guild, Eisenwald." The armored woman stated. "When I stopped over in Onibas, I overheard a couple of Eisenwald wizards talking in a bar. They mentioned the name Erigor."

"Erigor, the ace of Eisenwald." Zeke clarified as he pulled out an information Lacrima and brought up his profile. "This guy's been known for his preference in assassination missions. That's why they call him the Grim Reaper."

"Grim Reaper." Lucy said nervously.

"That's right. The Magic Council prohibits wizards from taking assassination requests, but Erigor choose money over the rules." Erza explained. "Because he and his guild disobeyed the council, they were kicked out of there magic league. But despite this, they still operate as a dark guild."

"Still doesn't explain why you think we should intervene." Alyssa stated. "Dark Guilds are usually handed by the Royal Army."

"That's true. However, I heard them mention a magical artifact called Lullaby and how they were having trouble with the seal that was placed on it. And given Eisenwald's track record, if they're after a sealed item, it can't be good."

"So that's why you needed all of us." Gray concluded.

"I'm not so arrogant that I believe I can take on an entire guild on my own." Erza replied with a nod. She clenched her fist and slammed it against her seat arm. "I should have stopped them when I had the chance, but now we have to stop Eisenwald before they do something horrible."

"You mentioned Lullaby." Zeke said. "Before we came back from our last mission, we encountered a group of bandits that knew something about Lullaby. They might have been members of Eisenwald, but we'll never know for sure."

"Why is that?" Erza asked.

"They were killed by some kind of shadow magic." Happy answered, shivering at the memory of the group being sucked into the ground.

"Then our mission is simple." Erza stated. "We find Eisenwald, defeat anyone who gets in our way, and take this Lullaby."

"Maybe I shouldn't have come along." Lucy muttered.

"Lucy, you're making a lot of juice." Happy stated.

"It's sweat!"

A few hours later, the group had arrived in Onibas and departed the train. After his motion sickness wore off, Erza lead the group to the bar where she had overheard the Eisenwald wizards.

"Natsu, do your thing." Zeke ordered. The dragon-slayer nodded and started smelling the table were the dark wizards had sat two days ago. Most of the scents were faint, but he raised his eyebrow as he recognized one of the scents.

"Sulfur." He stated. "It's almost identical to one I smelled in the woods, just without the scent of ancient wood."

"That wood smell must be Lullaby." Lucy theorized. Suddenly, Natsu's eyes widened and he yelled.

"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked.

"I recognize the scent from somewhere else!" The dragon-slayer exclaimed. "I thought I was just confusing scents because I was so out of it, but this confirms it!"

"Confirms what?" Zeke asked as the salmon-haired man turned towards his team.

"The guy behind that shadow magic was on the train!" He said, shocking the team.

Meanwhile, a group of wizards were forcing the passengers off the train in Kinugi station. Leading this effort was a man with silver hair, a black scarf, a bare chest, black gloves and a pair of japanese style pants. He had bandages on his wrists and feet, markings on his face and carried a large imposing scythe.

"All passengers and crew off the train!" He ordered as the rest of his guild was shoving people off. "Eisenwald is taking over."

"Master Erigor." The silver-haired man turned and a saw a man with white clothing and black hair in a pineapple-shaped ponytail.

"Ah, Kageyama." He greeted the black-haired man. "I assume you did your part."

"Just as planned." Kageyama said as he pulled out a flute with a three-eyed skull at the end. "Lullaby is now ours."

"Excellent." Erigor said with a sinister grin as he took the flute.

"But we might have to move up our plans." Kageyama stated, causing his master to raise an eyebrow. "There was a group of Fairy Tail wizards on the train." He said, remembering the mark on the orange-haired woman's cheek.

"Did they follow you?"

"No sir. They got off at Onibas."

"Then there's still time." Erigor concluded before addressed the rest of his guildmates. "Double time, people! We're headed for Oshibana! Make sure everything we need is on board."

Unknown to the dark wizards, a maniacal laugh was echoing inside of the cursed flute.  _ **'Soon.'**_

Meanwhile, the Master's conference in Clover was in full swing as Guild Masters from all over Fiore were chatting and trading stories. One of these was Master Makarov, who was sitting on table as his cheeks were red from the alcohol he had just partake in. His currently conversing with an...interesting gentleman in a red dress, a bald head, some stubble on his chin and small decorative wings on his back. This was Bob, master of the Blue Pegasus Guild.

"I'm so jealous, Maki." The strange master stated. "Your wizards are so full of life. I hear your newest member gave someone quite the thrashing."

"Ahh, you mean Lucy. Yep, she's stronger than she looks." The short man said with a smirk. "And let me tell ya, she's got a body that won't quit."

"Oh! So naughty, Maki!" Bob responded. "You shouldn't be talking about your wizards like that. Speaking of your new girl, I heard she's joined your guild's demolition squad."

Makarov sweat-dropped at the nickname Team Morningstar had gotten. "Yes, that's true. But she seems to be getting used to the Fairy Tail lifestyle."

"Oh, you mean acting like a bunch of wild animals?" The two turned and saw a beautiful woman in her early thirties. She had purple curvy hair, black eyes, and tan skin. Her outfit consisted of a black t-shirt with a brown jacket draped over her shoulders, green pants and black combat boots. This was Sicilia Vasquez, master of the Titan Nose Guild. "While I do admit that they did a good job defeating Bora, they still leveled part of Hargeon in the process."

"She has a point." A man with brown hair, a black t-shirt, a spiked neck collar, shades and a wizard hat said. This was Goldmine, master of the Quattro Cerberus Guild. "Your wizards do tend to go overboard a lot. The council is afraid that one of these days, Fairy Tail might destroy an entire city by accident."

"Ahh, what do I care what those council blow harts say?" Makarov replied. "They're just jealous that my wizards are hot."

"And that's the kind of attitude that's going to land you in hot water." Sicilia commented.

"Master Makarov! Master Makarov!" The four turned and saw a tiny bird with a wizard hat flying towards them, carrying a letter in it's claws. "You have a letter from Mirajane, sir."

"Thank you, little guy." Makarov said as the bird dropped the letter into his hand. He activated the letter, creating a magic seal over the envelope and showing a miniature image of Mirajane.

"Hello master." The image said with a smile. "I'm glad you made it back to the conference."

"Take it in fellas." The short man said as he showed off the image. "Quite the looker, ain't she."

"Not bad." Sicilia said as he parted her hair. "But she's still a got few years left before she could match me."

"Something incredible has happened! Erza and Gray joined Team Morningstar on a mission! This might be the strongest team in the history of Fairy Tail!"

Any other guild master would have been ecstatic at the possible founding of their guild's strongest team, but in Makarov's case, the thought of those five wizards teaming up almost gave him a stroke. He stared into space before collapsing on the table.

"Maki?" Bob asked.

"I guess the council has reason to worry." Goldmine commented.

'This is a nightmare!' The twitching master screamed in his head. 'Those five really could destroy an entire city! Okay, calm down. The conference ends today so I can make it back by tomorrow. I just hope nothing happens until then.'

_**And then...** _

After realizing that the wizard with Lullaby was on the train, the group rented a magic-mobile (a vehicle powered by a wizard's magic energy through an arm-placed SE plug) and headed for Kinugi station since that was the next stop on the train's route. Erza was the one at the wheel as they reached Kinugi Station. The group saw that the military had arrived and were helping the civilians. So the they decided to head for the next stop in Oshibana.

"Slow down, Erza!" Gray yelled as he held onto the roof of the magic-mobile. "You're gonna blow up the SE plug!"

"It doesn't matter!" The armored woman stated as she drove at high speeds through the streets of Oshibana. "We have to stop Eisenwald, no matter the cost."

"But you'll use up all your magic by the time we get there!"

"Then I'll have to resort to hand-to-hand combat. Besides, I have you guys to back me up."

Gray looked at her until a groaning voice came from underneath, he turned and saw Natsu halfway out the window as the rest of Team Morningstar (sans Happy) were trying to pull him in.

"Stop it Natsu!" Alyssa exclaimed. "You'll fall out at this rate!"

"That's the plan!" The motion sick man groaned.

Inside the vehicle, Happy was pondering something. "Hey Lucy. I feel like I'm forgetting to tell you something important."

"Something important? What is it?" She asked.

"I can't quite remember." The cat said as he tried to think. "But it had something to do with you."

The group then saw a large crowd of people gathered by the train station. "I think we might have found them." Zeke said. Erza nodded and parked the magic-mobile. The group got off (with Alyssa carrying her still motion sick boyfriend by his shoulders) and saw smoke coming from the station as the station personal addressed the crowd.

"Everybody, please remain calm. There has been a train derailment. Until repairs have been made, the station is closed for the moment."

The crowd started discussing that some of them had heard that dark wizards had taken over the station. Erza walked up one of the employees. "What's the situation?"

"Why would I tell..." But before he could finish, Erza headbutted him. She turned the next employee and asked the same question, headbutting him when he didn't tell her. She was about to do the same to a third employee, but was stopped by Zeke standing between them.

"Easy, Erza. Let me try." Zeke said before turning to the scared employee. "I'm sorry about my associate's behavior. We're from the Fairy Tail guild and we think that a group of dark wizards we've been following have holed up in this station."

The employee thought for a second before whispering to Zeke so as not to cause a panic. "You're right. A group called Eisenwald has taken over the station. A few army groups have entered to secure the building, but none of them have come back."

"Thank you." The archer whispered back before turning to a confused Erza. "Ever heard of the phrase you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar?" He then turned towards his teammates and Gray. "Alright guys, let's go!"

"That was surprisingly easy." Lucy commented.

"That's Zeke for ya." Happy replied as the group ran into the station. The seven of them eventually saw a bunch of soldiers covered in bruises and in some cases, their own blood. The gang's reactions ranged from sadness, repulsion, and fear.

"They didn't stand a chance against an entire wizard guild." Alyssa sadly stated. Zeke gave the fallen knights a salute and the group moved on until they reached a large room. Inside was the entirety of Eisenwald, all staring down the group.

"Welcome to our parlor, Fairy flies." Erigor taunted as he was perched on one of the loudspeakers. "We've been expecting you."

"There's so many of them." Lucy said with fear evident in her voice.

"Erigor, I presume." Erza said as she glared up at the Grim Reaper. "Where's Lullaby?"

"Oh, you mean this?" The grinning man as he pulled out the aforementioned artifact.

"A flute?" Alyssa asked as she helped Natsu stand up. "Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that."

"Flute?" Lucy asked, suddenly gaining a look of realization. "Guys, I know where I've heard that name before! Lullaby's a cursed flute that uses a form of death magic! Anyone who hears it's song is killed!"

"Intelligent little fly, aren't you?" Erigor asked.

"What's your plan, Erigor?" Zeke asked, trying not to show that he was disturbed by this new info.

"I'll give you a hint. What do all train stations have in common?" He said, motioning to the speakers underneath him.

"So you're going play it through the speakers?" Erza asked as she grit her teeth. "If you do that, hundreds will die! What reason could you have for committing such as nefarious act?"

"They committed the sin of a turning a blind eye to the injustices of the world." The silver-haired man stated. "So the reaper has come to cleanse the world of those that flaunt their rights so carelessly."

"It's your own damn fault for taking all those illegal requests." Zeke stated.

"And killing them won't get you your rights back!" Lucy shouted.

"We no longer care about our rights, we want power!" Erigor said as wind slowly started blowing around him and he clenched his fist. "And with our power, we'll erase the past and control the future."

Natsu glared at the grinning wizard as fire started to gather around him. "Power? You're going to kill innocent civilians because you want power? Well, Erigor...let's see how powerful you are when I take Lullaby and shove it up your ass!"

"Eisenwald!" Erigor exclaimed as he rose into the air. "Shows these flies what happens when they get in our way!" And with that, he disappeared in a mini tornado.

"Wind Magic." Alyssa stated.

"We have to stop him!" Erza exclaimed.

"You're not going anywhere!" Kageyama said as unleashed a swarm of shadow tendrils at the group. However, Natsu destroyed the tendrils with a flaming fist.

"We'll have to divide and conquer." Zeke stated as he conjured up his longbow.

"Agreed." Erza said. "Natsu, Gray. You guys look for Erigor. The rest of us will deal with these guys."

"Are you kidding me?" Grey asked, not up for teaming up with his rival.

Natsu looked at Zeke and saw the archer nod. "Alright. Give 'em hell!" And with that, the two ran out of the room.

"You're not getting away!" A man with Egyptian apparel said as he released a bunch of black wrappings from his arms and followed after them. "I, the great Rayule, will make them suffer."

"I'm coming too." Kageyama said as he disappeared into the shadows.

"What?! Just the five of us against an entire guild?!" Lucy panicked.

"Make that four." Zeke replied. "Alyssa, you go look too."

"That's seem like a bad idea." Erza said.

"With my magic, I can find Erigor faster." The orange-haired woman said before turning to the redhead. "Unless you think you can't handle them."

An anger tick appeared on the armored woman's forehead. "Of course we can handle this! NOW GO!"

"Fine." Alyssa said with a grin. She saw Lucy panicking and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Lucy. I believe in you."

Seeing her teammate's smiling face lightened her fears a bit and she nodded. After that, the taller woman conjured a purple seal behind her back and took off.

"Enough talk!" One of the Eisenwald members exclaimed. "Let's waste these idiots!"

Erza summoned a red magic seal that transformed into a long sword with a winged hilt and grabbed it. "Couldn't agree more."

A group of dark wizards armed with various weapons charged at the redhead. As they got closer, the armored woman swung her sword with such force that it destroyed all their weapons and knocked them back.

"Show off." Zeke said as he jumped into the air to evade some energy blasts. He held out his right hand and created several specs of light that transformed into a single arrow, loading it and aiming. " _Arch Shot: Arrow Rain!_ " He fired and unleashed a massive stream of arrows, hitting several dark wizards.

Erza charged into the crowd as two Eisenwald members attacked with giant swords. In response, her sword glowed and transformed into a double-bladed sword and she destroyed the swords with a swing.

"Take this!" Three wizards said as they joined their attack and launched it at the armored woman. She was going to react, but Zeke landed in front of her and held out his right hand.

" _Shield Up!_ " He conjured up a shield out his magic energy and blocked the blast. While magic arrows were the easiest thing for him to create, a basic shield spell was a good alternative.

"I was going to deflect that." Erza stated as she swapped out her blade with a pair of twin swords.

"Sure you were." Zeke replied as he created some more arrows for a Rapid Succession spell and fired.

"I've never seen someone Requip as fast as her." One of the Eisenwald wizards said, gaining Lucy's attention.

"Requip?"

"It's kind of like your magic, Lucy." Happy explained. "But instead of summoning spirits from another dimension, Requip wizards can call weapons they store. And that's only the tip of Erza's power."

"Really?" Lucy asked, watching as Erza fought off more goons up close and Zeke was jumping around and firing arrow spells.

"Still this many left. How annoying." The armored woman said as her body started to glow. When the glow faded, Erza was in a different set of armor, this one giving her the appearance of a Valkyrie with silver wings behind her.

"That's Erza's true power." Happy stated. "Along with swapping weapons, she can also swap out different armors. Each of them giving her new abilities. This is a unique ability to her called the Knight."

"Wow." Lucy said with astonishment.

"Dance, my swords!" Erza exclaimed as she summoned multiple swords that started spinning in a circle behind her. "Spiral Sword!" And with that, the circle of flying swords hit most of the dark wizards, knocking them out.

"You bitch!" A man with whisker-like marks on his face leaped at her from behind with his hands covered in magic energy. Erza turned and swatted the man away with the butt of one her swords.

"She took out Byrad with just one hit!" An obese wizard with green hair said in fear. "There's no doubt about it! It's the queen of the Fairies, Titania Erza!" He used his magic to phase through a nearby wall to escape.

"He must be going after Erigor." Zeke said, noticing Erza changing back to her normal armor and leaning on one of her swords, sweat coming down her face. "Lucy, Happy! Let's finish this!"

"Got it!" Lucy said as she pulled out a golden key. " _Open, Gate of the Giant Crab - Cancer!_ " And with that, the familiar crab spirit appeared. "Take these guys out with style!"

"Right on, baby." The crab spirit said as he charged a group, using his scissors at blinding speeds. When Cancer landed on the other side, the dark wizard's weapons split to pieces and all their hair fell off, causing them to faint from the shock. Happy jumped up and tossed a few lacrima grenades and Zeke fired another Rapid Succession spell, taking out the rest of Eisenwald.

"You okay, Erza?" Lucy asked the sweating requip wizard as Cancer went back through the spirit gate.

"I'll look after her." Zeke said, helping the redhead stand up. "You go find our missing pal."

The blonde girl looked at her friend before nodding. Happy decided to follow her, leaving Zeke and Erza alone with the unconscious dark wizards.

"You really have a lot of faith in her." Erza stated.

"She hasn't let me down yet." The archer replied. "But you should have let me take charge. Strategy is my niche."

The redhead said nothing as she turned away, not wanting to admit that when it came to strategists, the archer was one of Fairy Tail's best.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was running through the station at super-speed, looking through every room in as she searched for Erigor. Since she couldn't find him inside the station, she decided to search the exterior of the building. As she reached one of the balconies, she noticed some wind appearing around the station and looked up. In the air above the station, Erigor was had both his hands out as he was chanting a spell. Taking this chance, the amazonian woman reared her right fist back as a magic circled appeared behind elbow.

" _Speed Queen: Momentum Punch!_ " With a burst of speed, Alyssa ran up the building and leaped, knocking the surprised wind wizard towards the other balcony.

"You actually hit me." Erigor said as he got back up and cleaned the blood off his lips. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see!" The speed queen exclaimed as she charged. The two started exchanging and evading attacks, Erigor's wind magic able to match Alyssa's speed.

" _Wind Slicer!_ " Erigor yelled as he swung his scythe, creating a razor-sharp torrent of wind that Alyssa jumped away from, the attack slicing part of the balcony away. "You'll need more than speed to defeat me, Fairy Fly!"

"You'd surprise what a little speed can do!" The orange-haired woman proclaimed as another circle appeared behind her as she started vibrating her hands as they were close together. A ball of vibrational energy started to form in between the hands as Alyssa moved them to her side. " _Speed Queen: Vibration Blast!_ "

_"Wind Spiral!"_

Alyssa thrust out her hands and fired the vibrational energy as Erigor unleashed a spinning blast of wind. The two attacks collided creating a massive back draft that pushed the orange-haired woman back. When she removed her arms from her face, she saw a massive tornado had surrounded the station. "What the hell is that?"

"It's your prison." Erigor said as he appeared behind the amazonian woman and pushed her into the wind before she could react. She quickly got back up and saw that the station was unharmed as the twister continued to spin. "While would love to reap your life, I have a schedule to keep to." The Grim Reaper said from the other side.

"You mean your murdering spree." Alyssa replied as she launched at the wind. " _Speed Queen: Momentum Punch!_ "

As her fist made contact with the raging wind, she felt a stream of pain go through her arm and screamed in pain as she was knocked back into a nearby pillar. She got back up and heard Erigor laughing.

"Looks like you just found out the power of my Wind Barrier. You're welcome to try and break it, but any attack you use will be sent back at you." The wind wizard explained. "You can keep trying to escape and eventually this place will be your tomb!"

"Nice plan." Alyssa replied. "Except for the fact that you can't use the station's PA system to spread Lullaby's cursed song. So what now, you silver-haired bastard?"

"Let's just say that by tomorrow, the entire wizard world will be changed and our revenge shall be fulfilled!" Erigor proclaimed as he flew off into the distance.

"Erigor!" Alyssa yelled as she unleashed her Twin Twister spell, only for it to be knocked away. "Whatever your plan is, we will stop you!"

_**To be continued...** _

(We see chibi versions of Lucy and Happy running through the station)

Lucy: You know, you didn't have to come with me, Happy. I can find one wizard by myself.

Happy: I know, but that doesn't mean I can't help out.

Lucy: Aw, thanks little guy. By the way, did you remember that thing you wanted to tell me?

Happy: AH! It's on the tip of my tongue! It's so frustrating!

Lucy: Don't worry. I know the feeling.

Happy: Next time: Azure Flames and the Cursed Song! Don't underestimate me just because I'm a cat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 2: And so, the Lullaby arc has begun! Now just to clarify, Gray and Erza won't be joining Team Morningstar. But I do have two more OCs that will join our main team during the Galuna Island and Thunder Tribe arcs. And trust me when I say that it will be awesome!
> 
> Thanks to everyone favoriting, reading and reviewing! Please continue to do so and I'll see ya next time!


	5. Azure Flames and the Cursed Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: I own nothing except my OCs, original magic, and my own opinion that ending of both the Tenrou and Tartarus arcs suck! Trust me, you won't be seeing that shit in this story!

"Come on! BREAK THROUGH!" Natsu yelled as he punched the Wind Barrier with an Iron Fist attack, only for the barrier to knock him back. So far, things were not looking good for Team Morningstar and their two allies. Soon after Erigor had left, Gray had uncovered Eisenwald's true goal from the now frozen Rayule; Their true goal was to use Lullaby to kill all the guild masters in Clover. Alyssa, Zeke and Erza had gotten information that the only one who could dispel the Wind Barrier was the shadow wizard Kageyama. But when the group had found him, Natsu had knocked him out after he had come after the dragon slayer. Erza managed to slap the shadow wizard awake, but a hand had phased through his stomach, courtesy of the Eisenwald wizard Karacka. After Natsu beat the crap out of the phasing wizard, the group reconvened outside as they tried to break through the wind barrier.

"Don't stop now!" Zeke exclaimed as he pulled out the sword on his belt. The black-handled sword had a thin blade until the brunette pumped some magic through it, creating a spinning green blade. This weapon was known as a Spiral Blade, a weapon that channels the magic within it, spinning the magic at such high speeds that it could potentially disrupt other spells. However, that wasn't the case this time, as the archer was pushed back.

"We have to hurry!" Alyssa said as she fired a Vibration Blast spell at the massive torrent of wind, only to have the blast fired back and causing her to dodge. "There has to be someway past this stupid barrier!"

"Wake up, Kage!" Erza exclaimed as she treated the injured man's wounds. "We need you so dispel the barrier!"

"He's not gonna wake up anytime soon." Lucy stated before turning towards a certain ice wizard. "Gray, why don't you freeze the barrier so the rest of the team could smash it."

"If I could do that, I would've done it when I saw the it earlier." Gray answered, turning his attention to the trio that keep trying to break through. "It's no use guys! The more you throw at the barrier, the more damage you guys take!"

"It's a small price to pay!" The orange-haired woman retorted before unleashing another spell. " _Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!_ " With every punch, Alyssa felt backlash from the barrier but pressed on despite the pain until she was violently blasted back. Lucy ran towards her friend and saw that her hands were bleeding. She looked and saw Zeke slashing at it again, the backlash damaging his right hand some more.

"Guys, you need stop this! If you keep this up, you'll end up killing yourselves!" The blonde girl cried.

"Not an option! We have to save Makarov!" Natsu yelled as he unleashed another fire attack. He scowled as he tried to push forward. Lucy watched in worry as he pushed and saw his flame turn blue for a second until he was pushed back.

"Okay..." Zeke started as he put away his Spiral Sword, taking a moment to catch his breath. "I think it's evidently clear that brute force isn't going to break this barrier and Kageyama can't dispel it. Anyone got any ideas?"

The group started to think of ways to get out. Natsu turned to the newest member of Morningstar. "Hey Lucy, do you think you can teleport us to other side?"

"What makes you think I can even do that?" The blonde asked.

"Well back at Everlue's mansion, the three of us went through gate and teleported from the foyer to the sewer."

"But in order for your plan to work, we would need another celestial wizard to have one of their spirits already on our side and for them to be the other side." Lucy explained the holes in Natsu's plan.

"Damn it." The salmon-haired man sweared as Happy started to think.

"Everlue...Everlue. AHHH!" Happy screamed, catching everyone's attention. "LUCY, I JUST REMEMBERED WHAT I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU EARLIER!" The blue cat quickly ruffled through his backpack and pulled out a golden key.

"That's Virgo's spirit key!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Happy, did you steal that from Everlue?" Alyssa asked with a disappointed look.

The cat shook his head. "When we stopped for the night after the mission, Virgo came and told me that her contract with Everlue ended when he was arrested. She said she was willing to form a contract with Lucy and gave me her spirit key for safe keeping."

"That was three days ago!" Natsu exclaimed. "Why did you wait until now to say that?"

As Happy tried to justify something about cats having short recall, Zeke was thinking back the team's encounters with the maid spirit, suddenly getting an idea. "Happy, you just gave us our way out!"

The group looked at the archer and Lucy caught onto what Zeke was saying. "That's right! Virgo can dig us a way out." Happy handed her the key as the group stood back.

"Say Gray, you didn't have a heavy lunch today right?" Natsu asked.

"No, just a sandwich. Why?" The ice wizard asked.

"You'll see."

Lucy held out the golden key in front of her and started to chant. " _I call upon thee in the world of the Celestial Spirits. I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the gate!_ " A magic circle appeared beneath her. " _Open, Gate of the Maiden - Virgo!_ "

Out of gate came a petite woman with short pink hair, blue eyes, a maid outfit and broken chains on her wrists. The five who had seen Virgo before were gaping like fishes as Gray and Erza looked at them with confusion and Virgo gave Lucy a small bow.

"You called, Mistress?" The maid asked.

"Who...are you?" The blonde asked.

"Is it me, or did she drop 400 pounds since the last time we saw her?" Alyssa asked, pointing to the maid and getting her attention.

"Oh, you're referring to my previous appearance." Virgo replied. "You see, I'm a loyal spirit with the ability to alter my appearance based on my master's preference."

"I guess that explains why you looked like a gorilla before." Natsu stated.

"You mean this?" The maid transformed into her 'gorilla' form, freaking everybody out.

"Could you please change back?" Lucy asked.

"In fact, never do that again!" Zeke begged.

"Very well." Virgo said as she transformed back into her smaller form.

"Look, I don't have time to set up a contract right now. Is it okay with we settle it later?" Lucy asked.

"Of course, Mistress."

"And could not call me Mistress. It's kind of creepy." The celestial wizard said as Virgo noticed Lucy's whip.

"Then may I call you queen?"

"I don't know about that."

"Princess?" Lucy grinned and nodded. "Yes that'll do. Okay Virgo, I need you to make a tunnel to get us past this wind barrier."

The maid nodded as a yellow magic circle appeared beneath her, bursting into the ground and creating a tunnel.

"Excellent work, Lucy." Erza commented. "Now let's go!"

"Hold up." Natsu said as he lifted the injured Kageyama on his shoulder as the group traveled through the tunnel and emerged on the other side, the barrier blowing powerful winds through Oshibana.

"Princess, Your panties are showing." Virgo said as she held down Lucy's skirt.

"You should worry about yourself." Lucy replied, noticing Gray looking at Virgo's rump with steam coming out of his face.

"Oh, wow." The blushing ice wizard said.

"Alright, we should..."

"Natsu, Alyssa, Happy!" Zeke exclaimed, cutting Erza off as he pulled out a pair of goggles from his pocket. "You guys go after Erigor! We'll catch up with you!"

"Right!" The three of them nodded as Happy activated his wings. Natsu grabbed onto his pal and blasted off into the air with streams of flame coming his feet. Alyssa activated her speed magic and took off at full speed. Lucy, Gray and Erza looked in astonishment before they heard honking, turning their attention to Zeke in driver's seat of the Magic-Mobile.

"Come on! Get in! And bring Kage. I got some medical supples in my pack." The archer explained.

'I've never seen Zeke act like this.' Lucy thought as Virgo disappeared. 'But then again, the guild masters are in danger.'

The magic-mobile soon took off with the four Fairy Tail wizards and the injured Eisenwald wizard riding it. Erza held onto the roof as Zeke drove.

"Don't you think that you were a bit quick on sending the others ahead?" The requip wizard asked the driver.

"We wasted enough time trying to break through the wind barrier." Zeke replied. "Erigor's probably half way to Clover by now. And besides, Natsu and Alyssa can handle him. Or at least keep him busy."

_**And then...** _

'Just as planned.' Erigor said as he flew through the valley that lead to Clover. With the derailed train blocking the tracks, the only way through the valley besides the train tracks was by flight, which Erigor had no problem doing with his wind magic. 'I see the town up ahead. I bit farther and I'll have my revenge.'

"We've got you now!" The silver-haired killer turned and saw Natsu and Happy blasting towards him. "Didn't know cats could fly at mach speed, did ya?"

With a fiery kick, Natsu knocked him onto the tracks. The salmon-haired wizard then caught his little pal as he landed onto the tracks. "You okay?"

"Ya, but...I'm so tried...can't fly." Happy answered with exhaustion in his voice.

"Don't worry buddy. We can handle it from here." Natsu reassured the cat before turning his attention back to Erigor.

"You're one of those pesky Fairy Tail flies." The reaper stated.

" _Speed Queen: Momentum Punch!_ " The reaper turned and was hit by a powerful punch as Alyssa zoomed past the silver-haired man and stopped near her boyfriend.

"You again?!" Erigor exclaimed as he got his second wind.

"That's right! It's time for Round 2, Reaper!" Alyssa stated as she cracked her knuckles while Natsu engulfed both his fists in fire.

"Good luck getting past us you dress-wearing windbag! Cause I'm gonna burn you and that stupid flute of yours to a crisp."

"So you two were able to break through my Wind Barrier. You little flies can be such a nuisance." Erigor stated as he glared at them. "Now get out of way, kids. Or else." He unleashed a strong gale at them as the wizards struggled.

"Is that all you got?" Alyssa asked as she fought against the wind, only for the wind to implode and cause a lot of smoke to kick up. However, Natsu blasted out from the smoke with his feet on fire and leaped at Erigor, the reaper evaded a flaming fist as it came down on the tracks. But as the reaper evaded, Alyssa ran towards him and gave a kick that was only blocked by the flat end of Erigor's scythe.

'So they use their respective magics to move and attack? This might actually be a challenge.' Erigor thought to himself as he flew up into the air. However, he saw Alyssa hold her arms out as she aimed another spell at him.

" _Speed Queen: Twin Twister!_ " The reaper grinned as the two funnels of wind headed for him. With a swipe from his hand, he caused the twisters to change direction and hit some rocks in the canyon, shocking the two Fairy Tail wizards.

'So he can control wind that's not his own.' Alyssa stated in her mind. 'That's three of my spells made useless.'

"What are you doing up there you coward? Come down here and fight us!" Natsu taunted.

"Don't get too cocky, fly." Erigor replied as he created a magic circle in front of him. Before either of them could react, the couple was consumed by a massive tornado that formed underneath them. " _Storm Breaker!_ "

As the two were continuously spun by the tornado, Happy tried to re-cast his Era magic but failed. "It's no use, I don't have enough magic energy."

'I gotta bust out!' Alyssa thought as she decided to take a gamble. She once again channeled her magic as she started rapidly spinning her entire body. " _Speed Queen: Tornado!_ " With her own personal wind funnel, the orange-haired wizard burst through. Only to see her boyfriend get blown into the chasm below. "Natsu!"

"Let's see your fire power get you out of this." Erigor taunted with a smirk. However, his smirk disappeared as a large plume of fire blasted into the sky before transforming into a giant claw that grasped onto the tracks. Almost like a bungee cord, the flame lifted Natsu up into the air before disappearing.

'Thanks, Macao.' Natsu thought to himself as he landed, thinking back to how the Purple Flare Wizard taught him about altering the shape, density and temperature of his fire.

"Nice one!" Alyssa complemented with a smile.

"But...that's impossible!" Erigor exclaimed with an astonished look.

"You must be pretty cold up there half-naked like that." Natsu said to the hovering reaper. "Want me to warm you up?"

"Your flames are powerless against me!"

"Oh yeah! We'll see about that!" The dragon slayer retorted before sucking in some wind for his next spell. Alyssa followed suit as she started vibrating her arms and creating a ball of vibrational energy.

" _Fire Dragon Roar_!"

" _Speed Queen: Vibration Blast!_ "

" _Storm Wall!_ " Erigor reacted, creating a wind barrier that barely stopped the fire and vibration attacks. 'I can't believe these guys. There's no rhyme or reason to their attacks. Is this what all Fairy Tail Wizards are like?' He thought before speaking out load.

"Although your powers are remarkable, I'm afraid you two are still no match for me. So enough of this cat and mouse game chase. It's time get serious."

The couple gave their own respective grins as they stared up at their opponent. "Bring it!"

Erigor grinned back as he started spinning his scythe in front of him. " _Storm Mail!_ " Another torrent of wind blew, but this time the wind wrapped itself around it's caster, forming a sort of swirling armor around the silver-haired wizard. "Here I come!" He turned to a twister aimed from them as Natsu and Alyssa charged, armed with an Iron Fist and Vibration Burst attack respectively. But the two were knocked back as Erigor floated, unphased by the combo attack.

"What the matter? Can't handle the breeze?" The wind wizard taunted.

"Coward! You just had to go and wrap yourself in a wind barrier!" Natsu replied as he charged. "This'll break through it!  _Fire Dragon Iron Fist_!"

Erigor threw his own punch and the two fists collided. But to Natsu, Alyssa and Happy's shock, the fire on the salmon-haired wizard's fist had disappeared as the reaper chuckled.

'Why...why did my fire go out?' Natsu asked himself as he heard Erigor laughing.

"Just as I suspected. You're completely helpless without your flames. Looks like I have the upper hand." The winds grew stronger and blasted Natsu back, Alyssa catching him. "Unfortunately for you, the winds of my Storm Mail attack blow outwardly. You get to close and it'll smother your flames, leaving you powerless against me!"

However, Natsu's only response was to give his infamous smirk. He got out his girlfriend's arms and stood up against the wind defiantly. "In that case..." His usual orange fire started flowing around him. "I'm gonna need a bigger fire!"

Alyssa and Happy smiled at this declaration. 'So he's going to use that.' The orange-haired woman thought to herself, remembering the conversation that eventually led to what was about to happen.

_Eight years ago..._

_"Hey Natsu." The salmon-haired boy turned to his friend. The three young wizards were on there way back from a mission and set up camp for the night, the fire cooking their dinner and Happy sleeping in Alyssa's lap._

_"Did you know there's different colors of fire?" A bespectacled Zeke asked._

_"You mean like Macao's Purple Flare?" Natsu asked back._

_"Kind of, I guess." The archer replied. "You see, I read that the different colors of fire can change depending on their temperature. Your flames are orange, which is actually the basic temp of usual fires."_

_"Oh, I got it!" Alyssa stated. "It's like how a welder uses blue fire to superheat metals." The budding amazon stated._

_"That's right." Zeke replied. "So I was thinking; what if you could make your fire so hot it changes to blue or green or even white? Apparently that's the hottest fire can get."_

_Hearing this gave made Natsu's eyes go starry as an excited smile appeared on his face. "Let's find out!"_

_"Don't try it now!" Alyssa yelled. "You'll burn the tents!"_

_Realizing this, the young dragon slayer rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that."_

Back in the present, Alyssa and Happy moved away from Natsu as the flames started getting stronger around him. The dragon slayer closed his eyes, reaching into a pool of inner power within him.

"RAAAAAH!" With a powerful yell, the fire covered Natsu expanded dramatically and the flame changed from orange to a raging blue.

Erigor's eyes widened before his face turned into a scowl. "It doesn't matter what color your flames are! I'm going to put an end to this now!" He proclaimed as he brought his fingers together in an X sign. "My Soaring Phoenix Magic rips everything to shreds!  _Ema Rebarum_!" Several magic circles started spinning in front of the reaper as his winds increased their ferocity. "Goodbye, FAIRY TALE FLIES!" Erigor yelled as he unleashed his strongest blast of wind yet.

Natsu channeled the now blue fire into his hands as the massive stream of wind approached. " _Fire Dragon Shield!_ " He unleashed a massive burst of fire in front of him, causing the wind to split into two and destroy two nearby cliffs. "Now what was that about ripping me to shreds?"

Erigor stared at the dragon slayer, dumbfounded that his strongest attack was deflected. "How...what...WHAT?!"

"You should consider yourself lucky, Erigor." Natsu smirked as the blue flames continued to dance around him. "You're one of few people to see my special trick. My  _Azure Flames_!"

"You...no matter! You still can't get past my Storm Mail!" The sweating reaper exclaimed.

"You wanna test that theory?" With another roar, Natsu's azure flames started growing bigger, expanding into a large pillar of fire.

'What is this?' The reaper thought with a bit of fear, not noticing that the wind was starting to change direction. 'All he did was change the color of his flames and he's suddenly more powerful! What kind of fire wizard is this kid?!'

"He's really doing it." Happy stated. "He's changing the direction of the wind!"

Erigor heard the cat and looked down. His Storm Wail was starting to waver as the wind around was drawing to the top of the blue pillar. "This fire...it's drawing my wind towards it."

Alyssa smiled as her boyfriend's fire pillar drew more and more wind towards as it became more intense. 'Natsu's flames are creating a vertical updraft and a low-pressure area. And wind always blows from high pressure to low pressure areas. Guess I'm not the only one who paid attention to Zeke's physics lessons.'

"I'M GONNA TAKE YOU DOWN!" Natsu yelled at Erigor as he got into a starting position.

'His fire magic is so strong!' Erigor thought to himself. 'Surely he couldn't be...'

The reaper's train of thought of broken as he was grabbed by the stomach. He turned and saw that Alyssa was the one holding him, catching him off guard with a burst of speed. "Go for it, Natsu!"

"Are you crazy?! He'll burn you too!"

Like a rocket, Natsu launched himself at Erigor, his body still engulfed by the azure flames. Just before he reached them, Alyssa speed away, leaving the silver-haired reaper to be hit by the full attack.

" _FIRE DRAGON..._ " Natsu grabbed Erigor and spun him twice before launching him into the air with a crescent-shaped blade of fire. " _SWORD EDGE!_ "

'The dragon slayers! They do exist!' The burnt Erigor thought to himself before landing headfirst onto the tracks, finally knocking the wind wizard out. The Lullaby flute fell out of his clothing and landed nearby.

"That's what you get for messing with Fairy Tail." Natsu smirked as the azure flames finally died down.

"Aye! You showed him if you mess with the Salamander, you're gonna get toasted." Happy cheered as Alyssa rushed towards Natsu, lifting and spinning him the air.

"That was so awesome, babe!" The orange-haired amazon said with a smile. The dragon slayer smiled back.

"Hey, you did great yourself. Thanks for holding down Erigor for that last attack." The salmon-haired man said put his hand affectionately on her marked cheek. Happy started to sweat drop as the air around the two started to sparkle.

"Oh Natsu."

"Oh Alyssa."

"There they go again." Happy shrugged as the two enter another couple trance and repeated each other's names.

Unbeknownst to the three, the voice inside Lullaby started speaking again.  _ **'It would appear that Erigor has failed. The time has come for me to take matters into my own hands. Soon this wretched world shall bask in the glory that is...'**_  However, whatever consciousness the cursed flute had noticed a vehicle coming towards their location and silenced itself.

"Hey guys!" The couple broke out of their trance and turned their attention as Zeke stopped the magic-mobile near them.

"Don't worry!" Erza exclaimed as she summoned her twin blades. "We've come to..." The redhead then noticed the unconscious Erigor a few feet away. "Oh."

"See? And you doubted them." Zeke said to the armored woman as the rest of the passengers (including a now awake and treated Kageyama) existed the vehicle.

"Woah, you guys actually beat him." Lucy said in surprise.

"Ya, how did you even do that?" Gray asked, not believing that Flame Boy could beat someone like Erigor even with his girlfriend helping.

"What? Did you think we couldn't beat this guy?" Natsu replied, slightly offended by his rival's question.

"Actually, I believed you would do it." Erza replied before turning to Alyssa. "Slamazon over here, not so much."

Alyssa scowled and bumped heads with the requip mage. "And you would do soooo much better, right Metalhead?"

"You are aware that I have an armor built to handle wind magic? So yes Big Bertha, I could have done better than you!"

Lucy, Zeke and Happy sweat dropped as the two pairs of rivals continued to argue. Kagayama however, was still trying to process Erigor's defeat. The shadow wizard then saw Lullaby on the ground. The eyes of the flute glowed as the shadow wizard's eyes opened, revealing a sinister purple shade as he grinned. Before any of the Fairy Tail wizards could react, Kageyama quickly strapped himself into the Magic-Mobile and using both the vehicle and his Shadow Magic, he grabbed Lullaby and speed past them.

"See you in Clover, flies!"

"Kage!" Erza screamed.

"You asshole!" Gray yelled.

"This is the thanks we get for saving his life?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"After him!" Zeke yelled as the group ran after the increasingly distant magic-mobile.

_**And then...** _

Night had fallen over the kingdom of Fiore as the moonlight shined down on a large regime of royal knights were marching towards Clover, having received word of Eisenwald's plan to assassinate the guild masters. Unbeknownst to them, a man in a black and white cloak was watching the advancing army from a nearby mountain. While his face was obscured, his spiky red bangs were visible as he sniffed the air.

'Looks like we got something exciting going on.' The man thought to himself as he watched the regime move through the valley. 'Better get a front row seat for this.' The cloaked man jumped into the air higher than any human should be able to, following the knights from a distance.

Meanwhile, a certain Shadow Wizard was overlooking the Guild Master's Conference Hall from a nearby hill, gripping Lullaby in his hand. 'Ya, this'll work. Surely they'll be able to hear the lullaby song from here. Finally, the time has come!'

"There's some hot little numbers in this week's issue." Kageyama's attention was caught as he turned and saw Makarov sitting on a stump nearby as he read an issue of Sorcerer Weekly. Specifically the centerfolds and swimsuit sections. "Wow! Young wizarding ladies are so much more powerful now than they were back in my day. And sexier too."

'Um, ew.' The squinty-eyed man said in his head as the short man continued to give a perverted chuckle. 'Wait a second, isn't that...'

"Bah, what am I doing? I need to catch up with those fools before they destroy a entire town!" But as the short man got up from the stump, he noticed the spiky-haired man near him. "AH! It's not what you think! I was just looking over some potential recruits for my guild! That's all!"

"I don't care what you're doing." Kageyama replied, making the shorter man calm down. After he calmed down, the older man saw the bandages across the younger man's torso.

"You've been hurt badly boy. You shouldn't be wandering around the woods in your condition."

"Yes sir. You're right." The black-haired wizard answered. 'Now I recognize him. That's Makarov, the master of the Fairy Tail guild. Why do I keep running into these flies?'

Makarov stared at the young man for a second before turning away.

"Excuse me. I don't suppose you care to hear a song?" Kageyama said with a fake smile. "They wouldn't let me play my flute while I was in the hospital, and it would a lot to play for somebody again."

The tiny man looked at the wooden instrument in the injured man's hand. "That's one creepy looking flute you got there."

The Shadow Wizard gave a light-hearted chuckle. "I know, but it has a beautiful sound."

"Hmm. Well, I should be going..." Makarov said to himself before addressing to the taller man. "But I guess one song couldn't hurt."

"Oh, thank you." Kageyama said with a smile as the eyes of the flute gave a faint glow. 'We win.'

Close by, Team Morningstar, Erza and Gray ran through the Clover forest. "He's this way!" Natsu said as he lead the group with his enhanced senses. However, the group was stopped in their tracks at the sight of a certain dress-wearing man looking into the distance.

"Shhhh. We're just about to get to the good part."

"Master Bob?" Erza and Zeke recognized him.

"Ezekiel, Erza! Great to see you two again." The bald man greeted as he pinched Zeke's cheek. "Haven't seen you two since this little darling's S-Class trial."

"Nice to see you to." Zeke greeted the weird man. "By the way, how's Ichiya doing?" He asked, having not seen his acquaintance from Blue Pegasus since they went on a joint Treasure Hunting mission a few months ago.

"Great actually. He even got himself a sweet girlfriend."

"Whaaaat?" Zeke asked, happy for his friend as Erza found it hard to believe that the flirtatious wizard got himself a girlfriend. "That playboy finally settled down? Good for him."

"So wait, this is the Blue Pegasus Guild Master?!" Lucy asked.

"Yup. So what brings you brats here?" The group turned and saw Masters Goldmine and Sicilia walking towards them.

"There's a wizard with pineapple hair and a death flute nearby!" Natsu stated.

"Oh, you mean that guy?" Sicilia said as she pointed towards Makarov and Kageyama.

"Don't worry." Goldmine said . "We're just about to get to the good part."

As the group watched the two, Natsu noticed the look on Kageyama's face. It was similar to one he had during their battle in Oshibana. As the two were trading magic attacks of fire and shadow, Natsu asked if the Shadow Wizard was planning on killing the guild masters like he killed the renegade wizards in the forest. The spiky-haired wizard's eyes opened as a look of guilt and disgust appeared on his face for a second before he launched another attack. His fighting was sloppier now and gave the dragon slayer a chance to knock him out with a Roar spell.

And now, Kageyama was having that same look on his face as he held the flute close to his mouth. 'Why I am I hesitating? Just blow the flute and kill the geezer!' The shadow wizard yelled at himself. 'It's not like you...haven't...killed...before.' He starting thinking back to how he overheard one of the tied-up wizards from the other day mentioning Lullaby. He knew that Erigor wouldn't tolerate it if her took too long and he couldn't let these guys reveal their plan. So he did the only thing he could and crushed them with his magic before quickly fading back into the shadow, a sickening feeling haunting his stomach for the last few days until he reached Erigor.

That same feeling was resurfacing as his internal struggle. 'I...I can't..."

_**'Yes, you can.'**_  A demonic voice whispered in his mind.  _ **'You've already taken a few lives. What's a couple more?'**_

'But...I...why do I feel a pit in my stomach? Is this...is this guilt?' He then started to recall what his guildmates said about the legal guilds, but he also started to remember what the Fairy Tail wizards had said over the past few hours

_"You should try and look for the positive. You and your buddies."_

_"Kage! We really need your help right now!"_

_"So you're gonna kill the guild masters! Just like you killed those guys in the forest!"_

"Well?" Makarov asked, getting his attention.

'I can do this.' The shadow wizard tried to reassure himself. 'I just have to play one song and that'll change everything.'

As he struggled to go through with the act, Makarov said something as though he was reading his mind.

"Nothing's going to change." Kageyama's eyes widened as he looked down at the Fairy Tail master. "You cannot change the fact that those wore are weak will forever remain weak. Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I mean we humans are weak creatures by nature. Our insecurities are the reason that guilds even exist. And they're why we have friends. When we're surrounded with allies, it's easier to stay positive about the future. Think of it this way. If we're clumsy, then we may stumble and bump into things. But as long as we have faith in our future, we can continue marching forward. Our inner strength emerging on it's own. But we have choose that path and pledge to live our lives to the fullest."

The two wizards looked at each, one who's eyes held optimism mixed with experience and one who's eye held surprise and guilt. "Don't let that silly flute get in the way."

As the weight of the speech came down on him, Kageyama dropped the cursed flute and got down on his hands and knees. "I surrender."

The younger wizards watching from a distance were happy at the turn of events and ran towards their master.

"Nice going, Master!" Alyssa said.

"You stopped it!" Natsu cheered.

"Way to go gramps." Gray said.

"Waah...how did you kids end up in Clover?" Makarov asked in surprise.

"Master Makarov, your words touched me so deeply I was almost moved to tears." Erza said as she hugged the shorter man, unfortunately slamming him against her chest armor.

Natsu looked down at Kageyama and smiled. "I knew there was some good in you."

The shadow wizard looked at the dragon slayer in shock. "When I mentioned the guys from earlier, you definitely looked like you regretted. If you really a bad guy, you wouldn't have felt bad taking someone's life."

"So that's why you brought him with us when we escaped the wind barrier." Alyssa replied.

However, the tender moment was ruined as the sound of evil laughter soon filled the air.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Zeke asked.

**"I'VE GROWN TIRED OF YOU COWARDLY WIZARDS AND YOUR ANTICS!"**  The group were shocked as black smoke and energy started pouring out of Lullaby.

"Did that thing just talk?!" They yelled. Suddenly, a massive demonic seal appeared over the town, purple lightning crackling down as the wizards, Clover citizens, Royal Knights and the cloaked man watched in shock. The cursed flute transformed into a stream of black smoke that flew towards the seal.

**"I CAN NO LONGER HOLD BACK! I SHALL COME FORTH TO DEVOUR MYSELF!"**  A light blinded everyone for a second before they looked back, horrified at what they saw. Out of the seal came a massive monster 40 stories high, dwarfing the guild conference hall that stood underneath it. It's body made it look like wooden skeleton as it's three eyes glowed with power as it looked down at the wizards.  **"I SHALL FEAST UPON YOUR PITIFUL SOULS!"**

"It's so big!" Lucy shouted.

"Way to state the obvious!" Happy replied in terror.

"Kageyama, what the hell is that thing?!" Zeke asked.

"I don't know!" The shadow mage replied. "Erigor never said anything about a monster!"

"We're in a pickle." Bob said as he sweated.

"That's an understatement." Sicilia retorted.

"It must be a demon from the Book of Zeref." Goldmine stated as the guild masters and civilians started running for their lives. Far a distance, the cloaked man scowled.

'Damn it! I want to help! But if I do that, everything will go to hell for us! Wait.' He sniffed the air and smiled at a familiar scent. 'Looks like I won't have to.'

"Why did the flute turn into a monster?" Lucy asked as the gigantic creature watched them.

"That's what Lullaby's true form looks like in the flesh." Goldmine replied.

"It's forbidden black magic. Living magic." Sicilia followed up as she scowled at the monster. "Zeref's specialty."

"Who's Zeref? Wasn't he some ancient wizard?" Gray asked.

"He's the most powerful evil wizard the world has ever known." Bob explained. "He was very powerful in his day. But in my wildest dreams, I never thought his dark legacy would pop back up again."

Alyssa looked up at the monster with hated in her eyes. 'So it's just like...' Her mind conjured up images of a caravan being destroyed, blood on a young girl's hands and the silhouette of a man with yellow eyes. The orange-haired wizard started to shake until she felt someone grab her hand. She turned and saw Natsu holding her hand with a concerned expression.

"It's gonna be okay." He reassured him, calming the speed queen's anxiety.

**"NOW THEN..."**  The couple turned and saw Lullaby lean down towards them.  **"WHICH OF THESE DELECTABLE SOULS SHALL I DINE ON FIRST?"**

"No giant wooden demon is going to scare off the Fiore army!" The royal captain exclaimed. "Charge!"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers shouted, getting Lullaby's attention.

**"YOU DOUBT MY POWER? I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU!"**  A magic circle appeared in front of its mouth as it launched a blast, actually destroying a nearby mountain!

"C..Captain, are we scared yet?" A soldier asked in fear.

"Now men, retreat! Run for your lives!" The captain yelled as the army regime ran off.

**"I HAVE NO NEED FOR THOSE PATHETIC HUMANS!"**  Lullaby said as it turned its attention back to our heroes.  **"I PREFER THE TASTE OF A WIZARD'S SOUL AND I WILL CONSUME ALL OF YOURS!"**

"Oh yeah!" Zeke yelled as he conjured up his bow. "Try it then, you oversized splinter!"

"Good luck!" The guild masters cheered from a distance.

"Can those five really defeat Lullaby on their own?" Lucy asked.

"You should help them." Happy said to her.

"Normally I would but none of my celestial are available right now and I'd probably just slow them down." Lucy quickly answered.

"Good excuse."

"Don't judge me cat!"

Lullaby's three eyes glowed as it started preparing its death song with an ear-hurting roar that affected Lucy and the Guild Masters. Sicilia was about charge in to help but Makarov help his arm out in front of her, a smirk on his face.

"Ready?" Erza asked as she summoned up two blades.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu, Alyssa and Gray replied.

"Than let's do it!" The five wizards charged ahead as Zeke summoned a spinning arrow and aimed it at the monster.  _"Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!"_  He fired, unleashing a spinning arrow that blasted strait through the demon's chest.

_"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!"_  Erza exclaimed as she changed into her silver army and flew up, slashing at Lullaby with her swords.

Gray made a stance and laid his fist on his palm as frosty air surrounded him.  _"Ice Make: Lance!"_  He conjured up a blue magic circle and blasted several lances of ice at Lullaby.

Alyssa started using her magic to run all over the wooden demon, tearing apart any piece she could get her hands before jumping in front of its face. " _Speed Queen: Thousand-Strike Kick!"_  And with that, she unleashed a barrage of a thousand kick in less than 30 seconds, making the beast groan in pain.

"Now it's my turn!" Natsu yelled as leaped at the demon with his fist in orange flames. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He punched Lullaby in the cheek, making it wobble a little.

From a distance, the guild masters were watching as the five young wizards continued to through everything they had at the demon. Swords, Ice, Fire, Speed, and Arrow spells keep being flung as the massive beast keep trying to swat them.

**"YOU'RE MAKING ME ANGRY!"**  Lullaby yelled as it swing its arm in an arc, making the five jump away.

_"Speed Queen: Cannonball!"_  Alyssa exclaimed as she got into a cannonball position and launched at its chest, knocking it back as Erza came down with some more sword slashes. Zeke and Gray stood side-by-side as Gray conjured up a massive bow of ice and Zeke summoned several specs of light that merged into one arrow that he loaded.

_"Ice Make: Arrows!"_

_"Arch Shot: Arrow Rain!"_

The two streams of arrows launched towards the demon as Natsu charged in with a Wing Attack. The demon took the blunt of the attacks as it absorbed the hovering seal into its body.

"This can't be good!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Here comes its song!" Happy followed up as Lullaby continued to roar, draining the life out of the nearby plant life for energy.

**"JUST ONE NOTE AND YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE!"**  The demon flute exclaimed as it readied its voice, everyone quickly covering their ears in an attempt to block it out. However, the only sound that came out of the flute was a wheezing sound, confusing the flute demon.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened!"

**"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"**  The wooden demon asked in confusion.  **"WHY CAN'T I PLAY MY MELODY OF DEATH!?"**

"It must be because of all those attacks." Kageyama reasoned.

"They punched so many holes in that it messed up its sound." Sicilia followed up.

"All that build up for this?" Lucy asked. "Talk about going out with a whimper."

"Ya, flutes are pretty lame to begin with." Happy stated.

**"YOU DARE MOCK ME?!"**  The monster roared as it prepared its next attack at the spectators. Alyssa widened her eyes and grabbed Gray, bringing the two of them towards the guild masters.

"Gray!" Alyssa yelled as she dropped him.

"Right!" Gray channeled a massive amount of Ice Magic front of him just as Lullaby unleashed a massive blast at them.  _"ICE MAKE: SHIELD!"_

As the attack hit, Gray protected the guild masters with a massive ice barrier, blocking the large torrent of fire around them.

"That boy's Maker Magic is spectacular!" One of master commented.

"What's maker magic?" Lucy asked.

"Its users can give magic energy a tangible form." Happy explained. "However, there's another type of magic that can destroy it."

**"I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"**  Lullaby proclaimed. But its attention was soon drawn to the flames changing direction and being absorbed by Natsu.

"Well then. Now that I got a fire in my belly, there's no need to hold back!" With a powerful roar, Natsu's body was engulfed in a massive torrent of azure flames once again.

"What the hell happened to Natsu's fire?" Gray asked, Erza also looking at the new colored flames in shock. In the distance, the cloaked man gave a hearty chuckle at the sight of the blue flames.

'Way to go, kiddo!'

**"YOU'RE NOT HUMAN! YOU'RE A MONSTER!"**  Lullaby yelled as it tried to punch Natsu, only for the dragon slayer to jump and land on its arm.

"Oh, like you can talk!" The flame-covered man exclaimed as he ran up the massive arm, leaving burnt marks with each step before he jumped off high into the air.

"Alyssa!" Erza flew towards the running wizard and changed her armor.  _"Requip: Black Wing!"_  Her armored changed into a demonic-themed outfit as she grabbed the speed queen's hand.

"Let's do this!" The redhead nodded and flew the two up before tossing the orange-haired woman at Lullaby.

_"Speed Queen: Tornado!"_  Spinning at high speeds, the Speed Queen blasted through the demon's torso as Erza came down for a another swing of her sword as Zeke and Gray fired their own attacks.

_"Ice Make: Saucer!"_  The spinning blade of ice blasted off part of Lullaby's side.

_"Arch Shot: Seeker Arrow!"_  Zeke fired a stream of energy that pierced the demon's shoulder and keep circling back and hitting the monster as the archer motioned his right hand at high speed until it dissipated. "Natsu! FINISH IT!"

"You got it!" The airborne dragon-slayer replied as a massive blue magic circle appeared behind him. He conjured up two powerful balls of fire in each of his hands as he started to chant.  _"The flames of my right hand and the flames of my left! Put the two together..."_  Natsu slapped the fires together and held them over his head, roaring as the large azure fireball became bigger. " _AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GET! FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!"_

He tossed the massive fireball, hitting Lullaby. The massive demon roared in agony as its entire being started to burn away until the flame exploded, creating a massive streak of light that pierced the night sky. When the light faded, the cursed flute known as Lullaby was no more.

"Well done." Makarov congratulated the wizards.

"You're amazing!" Bob swooned.

"You kids made defeating Zeref's demon look easy." Goldmine stated.

As everyone cheered, Kageyama looked at the five wizards as they headed. 'I can't believe how strong they are? Are all of the Fairy Tail wizards as powerful as these guys?'

"Great work out there guys!" Lucy cheered as she ran towards her friends. "You really are the strongest team!"

"Aye!" Happy followed up.

"We're an awesome guild, aren't we?" Makarov said with pride.

"Don't get used to it." Erza said, surprising the three of them before turning to founding members of Team Morningstar. "It's clear that you three work better if its just you guys, Happy and Lucy. If me and Gray joined, we'd probably end up bickering with each other all the time. And beside, it's clear you have your own secrets." She said, referring to Natsu's Azure Flames.

"Hey, don't be discouraged." Zeke replied. "Just because you're a part of this team doesn't mean you can't form your own."

Gray and Erza looked at each other for a second before nodding. "You know, that actually sounds like fun." Gray stated. "And I got the perfect name; Team Fullbuster."

"We'll work on it." Erza said with annoyance.

"Hey." The group turned and saw Kageyama standing a few feet from them. "So I'm probably going to go to jail for my part in Eisenwald's recent acts. But when I get out..." He looked specifically at Natsu and Makarov. "It would be alright if I joined Fairy Tail?"

The two looked at each and grinned. "No problem." Natsu said as he gave the shadow wizard a smirk. "There's always room at Fairy Tail!" The shadow wizard smiled back, a slight tear in his eye.

"Bravo." Sicilia said as she gave slow clap. "You Fairy Tail wizards did save your lives by defeating Lullaby. However...YOU WENT OVERBOARD!"

The Fairy Tail wizard turned around and saw a massive crater where the conference hall used to be. Makarov turned pitch white as his spirit floated out of his mouth.

"Something came out!" Zeke yelled.

"Oh come on!" Natsu yelled. "I wasn't even aiming at the conference hall!"

"Well, Lullaby was standing over the hall when you launched your last attack." Alyssa said with a sweat drop.

"Way to overdo it again, Natsu." Gray taunted.

"Please forgive us, Master!" Erza begged as she tried to bring Makarov's spirit back into his body.

The group started noticing the angry crowd of guild masters heading towards.

"Well, I think this requires only one course of action." Zeke said as Natsu and Alyssa nodded.

"RUN AWAY!" The three yelled as Lucy, Happy, Gray and Erza carrying the still unconscious Makarov followed suit. As the eight Fairy Tail wizards fled away from the angry mob, the cloaked man looked at group with a smile revealing his fanged teeth.

'You've really come a long way, kiddo. I know it sucks that we can't be together right now.' A red magic seal appeared behind his him as red dragon wings materialized on his back. 'But the second this whole mess blows over, I'm coming back.' He started to take off into the air. 'Until then, say strong son. Stay strong, Natsu.' And with that, the cloaked man flew off into the night sky.

Omake Time:

(We see chibi Natsu and Lucy in front of the job request board.)

Natsu (excitingly): YEAH! I'm fired up now!

Lucy: Why is that?

Natsu: I got to use my Azure Flames, fought a giant demon, and we when get back to Magnolia, I get to see Alyssa kick Erza's ass!

Lucy giggles a bit.

Natsu: What's so funny?

Lucy: Well, most of the time you act like a wild animal. But when it comes to Alyssa, you suddenly turn into a big teddy bear. Kind of makes me wish I had a boyfriend.

Natsu: Don't worry, Lucy. I'm sure you'll get one soon. Maybe he'll out of sky right in front of you.

Lucy: Somehow I doubt that.

Natsu and Lucy: Next time: Alyssa VS Erza!

Natsu: NOW I'M EVEN MORE FIRED UP!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: Okay, this was by far one of my favorite chapters to write so far! Now I'm sure you all have questions so let me explain:
> 
> 1). The Azure Flames; I wanted give Natsu a legitimate reason for pulling victories seemingly out of his ass. And since blue flames are hotter than orange flames, it seemed it a naturally progression of his fire magic.
> 
> 2). Gray and Erza forming a team; Like I said, I already have two other OCs planned to join Team Morningstar in later arcs, so I figured having the two forming a team would still be cool. And I already have plans for a certain Manly wizard and Heavy Drinker to join up with them.
> 
> 3). Alyssa's flashback: FORESHADOWING!
> 
> 4). Kageyama becoming a Fairy Tail Wizard: Even though he's an expy of Shikamaru, I've always like Kageyama and I'm kind of bummed that they never did anything with aside from a cameo in the Battle of Fairy Tail arc. So look forward to seeing this shadow wizard in the future.
> 
> 5). The Cloaked Man: As said in the first note, I hated the ending of the Tartarus arc and felt like it was a huge slap in the face! Seriously Mr. Mashima, what the hell?! I'm not spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen or read it, but I do hope you guys realize where I'm going with this.
> 
> Thanks for all your supports guys. And please remember to read and review! See ya next time!


	6. Alyssa VS Erza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: I don't own anything except my OCs and original magic. Also, sorry about the longer update schedule. But I really want to get this story on TV Tropes so I've been fixing some of the grammatical errors in the earlier chapters.

_Eisenwald's failed attempt to assassinate the guild masters with Lullaby ended up being big news. It made all the papers and it seemed like everybody was talking about it. Before joining Fairy Tail, I never would've imagined I'd be part of such a big event. It feels awesome, but I'm not gonna let it go to my head._

_It still makes my heart skip a beat when I think about everything we went through. Kageyama gave himself up to authorities and Makarov put in a good word for him, so he might be out in a few months if he behaves. They even caught most of Eisenwald, so that's reassuring at least. Scary thing is, they still haven't able to track down Erigor. I'm worried he might show up at Fairy Tail looking for revenge._

_But I'll be okay, cause I'm with Team Morningstar. Alyssa, Zeke, Natsu and Happy all have my back no matter what. Not mention Gray and Erza, who are still trying to come up with a name for their team. Fairy Tail is awesome, and my fellow members are really great people. So don't worry Mom, I'm doing fine._

_P.S. Please don't tell Dad any of this, kay?_

Lucy sighed as she sealed the letter in an envelope. It had been three days since the battle with Eisenwald and Lullaby and she was looking forward to a relaxing day. As she stretched, she heard a knock at the door and walked towards it. She opened it and saw Zeke and his dad.

"Morning, Lucy." Zeke greeted with a smile. Lyle whistled as he looked the apartment.

"Not a bad place for 70,000 Jewel a month."

"Oh, hey Zeke. Mr. Hudson." Lucy greeted back. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to remind about the fight." Zeke stated, confusing Lucy.

"What fight?"

"Don't remember what happened before we left for Onibas a few days ago?" The archer asked. The celestial wizard thought for a second before remembering Alyssa challenging Erza to a fight when they got back.

"They're seriously going through with that?!"

"Yup. In fact, the fight's gonna start in about twenty minutes." Lyle said as he looked at his watch. "Should be pretty exciting."

A few minutes later, the three of them walked towards the back on the guild were most of Fairy Tail had crowded in a circle. Lucy looked at the center and saw Alyssa and Erza standing in the middle as several spectators cheered their names.

"Look like we made it." Zeke stated.

"Oh, hey guys." Mirajane said as she noticed the three new arrivals.

"About time." A shirtless Gray stated.

"If those two value their manhood, they better fight with their all." Elfman proclaimed.

"Um, Erza and Alyssa aren't men." Lyle replied with a sweat drop.

"But you gotta admit they're both manly." Macao replied. Suddenly, he smelt something burning before noticing the bottom of his coat was on fire. "Real mature, Natsu." The purple flare wizard said as he put out the flame.

"Then don't say my girlfriend's manly." The group turned and saw Natsu and Happy decked out in cheer uniforms (which they borrowed from Jet and Droy) while Natsu carried a flag with a chibi version of Alyssa's face and the word 'Victory!' in bright red. Happy on the other hand was carrying a tambourine.

"Don't you guys think you're going a bit overboard?" Zeke asked.

"Nope." The salmon-haired wizard replied as he started waving the flag in the air. "Kick her ass, Alyssa!"

"Aye!" Happy replied as he played his instrument. The orange-haired woman turned and smiled at her boyfriend and his cat cheering her one as she was putting on a pair of purple metal arm guards.

"So much for the strongest team in Fairy Tail." Lucy sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Gray asked.

"You, Natsu, Alyssa, Zeke and Erza ya dummy." The blonde replied. "You're the five strongest wizards in the guild."

"Ya right. What idiot fed ya that line?" The ice wizard asked, causing Mirajane to tear up. "Oh, you're not an idiot, Mira."

"Smooth move, Gray." Zeke said.

"I'll hand it to Natsu and Gray, they're tough little dudes. But neither of them are even close to being the strongest. There are guys in Fairy Tail stronger than both of them combined." Elfman stated before he pointed to himself. "Like this guy!"

"But Erza and Alyssa are in top three for the strongest woman in the guild." Levy stated.

"As far as guys go, it's a tough call, but I'd put my money on Laxus, Mystogan or Lyle." Jet said, surprising Lucy as she turned towards the older man.

"You're one of the strongest?"

The bespectacled man rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"All I meant was that the five of them work well together and they have the best team chemistry in all of Fairy Tail." Mirajane said with overly dramatic tears.

"If you were just talking about Me, Natsu and Alyssa, then you'd be right. But throwing Gray and Erza in mix screws up our entire team dynamic." Zeke stated. "Lucy however meshes much better with the team."

"Aw, thanks." The aforementioned blonde replied.

"Gotta say, I'm pretty synched to see how this fight turns out." Elfman said.

"It's a bit of a close call, but I'm putting my money on Erza." Gray said before turning towards Elfman. "By the way, me and her are putting a team together. Want to join?"

The manly man thought for a bit before smirking. "Sounds like fun! Count me in."

"Great. Now we just need one more member." The ice wizard said.

"Why don't you ask Cana?" Mirajane asked with a certain smile. "I'm sure she'll have no problem working with you."

Gray raised his eyebrow as he turned to where Cana was. The heavy drinker was in charge of taking bets for the fight and she was currently bending forward to take Romeo's bet. While the younger man wasn't paying attention, the Ice Wizard's face reddened at the sight of her bikini-clad cleavage. "Sure, I guess." Gray said as Mira giggled.

"It's been quite a while since we've squared off like this." Erza said as she stared down her taller opponent. "Though I hope you don't mind me asking about those arm guards."

"Just some extra safety measures." Alyssa replied as she made the last adjustment. "Wouldn't want to punch one of your swords and cut myself."

"So you've learned." The redhead smiled as she summoned her winged hilt sword. "Don't expect me to go easy on you."

Alyssa got into a fighting stance, giving a smirk of her own. "Wouldn't be much fun if you did."

"Go Alyssa! GO!" Natsu and Happy cheered as the two woman stared each other down. The tension building up.

"Round 1 starts!" Makarov said, signalling the beginning of the fight as Alyssa blasted and started throwing super-speed punches at Erza, the armored woman parrying with her swords as the clanging of the sword and the arm guards echoed through the air. When Erza swung down, Alyssa blocked the strike and smirked.

"Gotcha!" She stated, kneeing the redhead in face.

"And first blood goes to Alyssa." Wakaba commented.

Erza quickly recovered as her armor started to glow.  _"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!"_  The light faded to reveal her Valkyrian armor and she took off, her many swords spinning in a clock formation behind her.  _"Dance, my swords!"_  Erza chanted as she swung, causing the wheel of swords to spiral towards Alyssa. However, the orange-haired woman had a counter for this.

_"Speed Queen: Tornado!"_  Spinning at such high speeds caused a tornado to appear on the battlefield. The spiraling swords were sucking into the torrent of wind. Inside the tornado, Alyssa grabbed the swords as she spun and tossed them back at Erza, causing the flying woman to evaded and block her own swords as they were fired back at her. Using the last of the tornado's strength, Alyssa shot herself towards Erza and the two unleashed their respective attacks.

_"Spiral Swords!"_

_"Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!"_

Sparks flew through the air as superfast punches and flying swords countered each other.

"Woah!" Lucy said, astonished by the ferocity of the battle.

"Now this is a fight." Elfman commented as Natsu and Happy continued their cheering.

The two opposing wizards landed on the ground as Erza requipped to her Black Wing armor. 'Looks like it's time try out a new trick.' Alyssa thought to herself as her arms started rapidly vibrating. She raised her arms over her head.

_"Speed Queen..."_  However, a loud gong-like noise stopped the fight and drew everyone's attention to an anthropomorphic frog creature in elaborate clothing.

"This fight is over!" The frog said in a womanly voice, not paying attention to Happy and Natsu booing her. "May I have you're attention please? I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council."

"No way!" Levy said in surprise.

"Seriously?!" Jet exclaimed.

"Why would the council send her here?" Droy asked.

"Am I the only who noticed she's a frog?!" Lucy asked.

"Believe it not, I've seen weirder stuff than this." Zeke replied.

"As a result of the Eisenwald incident, a member of your guild has been charged with elevens counts of criminal property damage." The frog lady stated. "Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest!"

"WHAAAAT?!" The guild exclaimed. Erza looked at the frog woman in shock before requiping her back to her base armor and holding out her arms.

"Very well." She said solemnly. "I'll come along peacefully." She stated as a pair of magic-blocking handcuffs were placed on her.

"Hold up!" The redhead and the frog turned and saw Lyle walking towards them. "I assume there's going to trial, right?"

"Yes, that is correct." The frog lady replied.

"In that case..." The bearded man said he raised his glasses, giving them a glaring effect. "I will act as Ms. Scarlet's legal defense!"

The crowd of wizards started chatting amongst themselves as Macao and Wakaba shared a look and grinned.

_**And then...** _

It had been two hours since Erza, Lyle and the frog lady had left for the Fiore branch of the Magic Council and for most, the tension in the air was still high. For others though...

"Got any eights?" Zeke asked.

"Go fish. Mmmmm, fish." Happy replied with drool coming down his mouth as Zeke pulled another card from the deck. Alyssa was laying her head on the bar counter, pouting as Natsu patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you were still awesome today!" The dragon-slayer said as he tried to cheer his girlfriend up.

"I still wanted to finish the fight."

"Aren't you guys worried about Erza?" Lucy asked, surprised by her teammate's nonchalant attitude.

"Normally, we would be. But my dad knows the Council's laws inside and out." Zeke replied.

"If anyone can get Erza off the hook, it's Lyle." Wakaba stated.

"I just don't get it." Elfman said. "We've destroyed plenty of stuff in the past and they've never made a big deal out of it."

"I know. It doesn't make any sense." Laki replied.

"You think they got some kind of ulterior motive?" Natsu asked.

"Whatever the case, all we can do now is wait and see what happens." Makarov said with a grim expression. While the old master did have faith in Lyle to get Erza off the hook, he couldn't help but feel like trouble was brewing.

Meanwhile, Erza was being escorted to the courtroom by the frog lady. However, the two stopped when they saw a man about Erza's age with short blue hair, a strange tattoo on the right side of his face, black eyes and a white outfit.

"Siegrain." Erza said in shock as the frog woman kneeled.

"It's been quite a while, Erza." The blue-haired man said as he noticed Erza tensing up. "Please relax. I'm only here in spirit. I'm sending this projection from Era. In fact, all the wrinkled faces in that courtroom are projections as well. We didn't think it necessary to be here for such a trivial matter."

"I see. So you're the one who's behind this farce? You make me sick." The redhead said with a scowl.

"Let's be civil." The projection said as he approached her. "I've always been a staunched defender of Fairy Tail. But the elders are worried that the blame for Clover's destruction will into their laps. And the only way to avoid that is to place the blame on someone else entirely. You're their scapegoat."

"Enough!" The armored woman yelled.

"Just a friendly warning. In fact, it's another matter all together what I wish to discuss with you." The projection said as it placed its hand on Erza's chin, leaned in and whispered. "Don't let a word slip about you know what. For both of our sakes."

He ignored Erza's glare as he walked back. "I must join my colleagues on the council. I'll see you shortly on the other side." And with that, the projection vanished.

"Oh wow." The frog woman said. "You know from very important people."

"He's evil." Erza replied under her breath.

"Well that was ominous." A piece of the wall said before it changed into a humanoid shape and then back into Lyle, who was holding a glowing lacrima. "You know, it's people like him that make the common man hate politicians."

"And still don't see why you decided to hide." The redhead said.

"Call it a hunch, but I wanted to see what kind of argument I would need to bring up." He then held up the lacrima. "But it looks like this case is already in the bag."

A few minutes later, Erza and Lyle were standing before the judge and the Magic Council.

"This courtroom will now come to order." A frog person said. "Before us is the defendant Erza Scarlet. Please take the stand, Ms. Scarlet."

The redheaded woman did just that as she walked forward and faced the Magic Council, Siegrain watching with a bemused expression.

"Erza Scarlet, you stand before the council accused for the destruction caused during the Eisenwald incident." The judge stated. "These charges include the extensive damage to Oshibana station, the collapse of the Ryushika Gorge bridge and the complete destruction of the Clover Conference Hall. We understand that you have a legal defense with Mr. Hudson and we allow to make your case."

"Thank you your honor." Lyle said as he took the stand. "Now, I can go into an argument about how all the collateral damage was purely accidental. I can say how the lives of the guild masters outweighed the integrity of their meeting hall. But that's all things I would do for a real trial, not this nonsensical farce."

The council members started talked with each other. "What do mean by farce?"

"Well, I have evidence that this trial is nonsensical right here." Lyle said as he pulled out the lacrima from earlier. "If it pleases the court, I would like to present my evidence."

"You may." Lyle smirked as he held out the lacrima which shot out projections of Erza, Siegrain and the frog lady. The projections started to speak exactly like the real people had spoken to each other earlier.

'A recording lacrima?! But he wasn't even in the room.' Siegrain thought to himself before remembering what Lyle's magic was. 'Very clever, Mr. Hudson.'

_**And then...** _

"Hear hear!" Wakaba said as the three friends tapped their beer glasses together. It was a few hours later and Lyle & Erza had returned to the guild hall. "I told these kids you'd get her off the hook."

"I didn't even have to bring out the handbook for this." Lyle gloated. "After I showed them the recording and pointed out that Ms. Scarlet was never read their rights, the whole trial pretty much folded in on itself."

"Ya, most of didn't even notice that." Macao said as the rest of the guild was celebrating Erza not going to jail. But then again, they didn't need that much of a excuse to throw a party.

"So, you want to continue our fight, tin can?" Alyssa asked the redhead as she ate a strawberry cheesecake.

"Perhaps another time. Right now, I'm not in the mood." Erza replied, making the taller woman pout in disappointment.

"Well then, I guess the only thing to do make our team official." Gray said as he, Elfman and Cana sat in the same table as Erza. "I've got a few names for our team." The ice wizard said as he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. "Snow Storm."

"Nope." The other three replied.

"Avalanche."

"Nope."

"Tundra Blast."

"Nope."

"Blizzard Wizards."

"Okay first off, that name is incredible stupid." Elfman stated. "Two, are all these names some kind of play on Ice or cold stuff?"

"Um, no." Gray said as he quickly crossed off 97% percent of the names on his list.

"I can't believe all that worrying was for nothing." Lucy said as she laid her head on a table.

"Told you not to worry." Zeke replied as he was drawing up some blue prints. Lucy looked at the blue prints in confusion, which the brunette archer noticed. "Just some ideas for an improved bow."

"You can do that later!" Natsu yelled as he held up a jug of fire whiskey. "Come on! Let's party!"

"Aye!" Happy replied as the guild continued to have a good time.

"Now this is much better." Mirajane said with a smile as she watched her guild mates partying it up. However, she heard the master groan and saw that he having trouble keeping his eyes open. "Are you okay, Master?"

"Ya, I'm just feeling...a bit...tired." Makarov said as his voice started to waiver. Mira suddenly felt very tired and fell to the floor. "He's here."

All around the guild, everyone started falling asleep left and right. "Oh come on dude, don't be a di..." Zeke said before he passed out on the table.

As the majority of the guild aside from Lyle and Makarov were soundly asleep, a man in several robes that concealed everything aside his black eyes and a sheathed sword on his back. He went to the job request board and pulled a poster from it. He approached groggy Makarov and placed the poster in front of him.

"I shall return."

"Wait, Mystogan. Lift the sleeping spell before you go." The shorter man grunted.

"He's right." The covered man turned and saw Lyle struggling to stay awake. "You can't keep doing this."

Mystogan just turned and started walking away. "5...4...3...2...1." He counted down as he existed the guild hall. As soon as he left, the sleep spell wore off and everyone started waking up.

"Aw man. Was Mystogan here?" Jet asked.

"What a jerk." Droy said.

"Who's Mystogan?" Lucy asked.

"He's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard." Elfman answered.

"But over the years, he gotten so anti-social that he casts a sleeping spell whenever he enters the guild." Alyssa stated with a bit of gloom in her voice. "Lyle and the Master are the only ones who have seen Mystogan in the past four years."

"That's not true." A voice from the second floor said, drawing everyone's attention. The man who said that was a spiky blonde-haired man in his mid-twenties with a lightning shaped tattoo on the right side of his face, a buttoned up shirt, pants, spiked headphones and a fur jacket draped over his shoulders. "I saw him."

"Laxus?" Erza asked.

"Well this is rare." Elfman stated.

"So that's Laxus." Lucy stated, remembering the name of one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards.

"Mystogan's just a little shy." The blonde man said. "You should all respect his privacy. Not it concerns any of you weaklings."

"He's our friend, so of course this concerns us!" Natsu yelled up at the older man. "If you weren't affected by the sleeping spell, why haven't you tried to snap him out of his loner attitude crap?"

"You should be careful with your tongue, Natsu." Laxus said with a menacing grin. "Or do you want a repeat of our last fight? What was it, two minutes you lasted against me before you passed out?"

"Why don't come down here and fight me?! See if that happens again!" Natsu growled as he ignited his fists.

"You come up to me, little man." The feral-looking man taunted. The pink-haired growled some more and was about to charge until Alyssa put her hand on his shoulder.

"Just keep this in mind." Laxus said as he addressed the guild. "The strongest wizard in Fairy Tail isn't some chick in armor, a guy in a hood, or a couple past their prime. If you want to know who the strongest on here is, you're looking right at him!"

"That's enough out of you, Laxus!" Makarov yelled at his grandson.

"Tell me something, Laxus." Zeke said as he walked past his and started walking up the stairs to the second floor. "How comfortable is your head when it's shoved so far up your ass?"

"Ah, Zeke. Still overcompensating with your mouth, I see." Laxus replied with his shit-eating grin.

"And you're still acting you own the place, Thunder Crotch." Zeke retorted back.

"Considering I'm next guild master, I technically do."

"And what makes you think you'll ever be Guild Master?" The brunette archer said with a glare.

"Well let's take a look at my competition." The blonde man said. "A womanizer who isn't here half the time, a woman who spends more time with the Royal Knights than her family, an old man who's already past his prime, an anti-social numnuts who hasn't spoken to anyone but the geezer in years, a redhead with severe anger issues." He stood up, showing his large figure as he continued to mock his guild mates. "And then there's you. The weakest S-Class wizard in the guild who only became an S-Class because Mommy put in a good word for you."

"That's a damn lie and you know it!" Zeke yelled as he started channeling his magic.

"So what are you gonna do about it, Momma's boy?" Laxus smirked as lightning started appearing out his hand.

"That's enough, you two!" Lyle shouted. Hearing his dad's voice got Zeke out of his rage and made his magic disappear.

"That's right. Know your place." The blonde man taunted. "After all, I've taken on three S-Class missions this month. The only one you took ended in disaster."

Zeke scowled at the taller man before turning away and walking towards the S-Class job board. He looked at the three and pulled one from the board. "Master, I'd like a word in private." The archer stated. The old guild master looked with a concerned expression and jumped off the counter, the two of them headed for his office as the rest of the guild looked on in concern.

A few minutes later, Zeke and Makarov walked out, the archer having a determined look on his face. He held out a poster with the S-Class marking and a picture of an island. "Natsu, Alyssa, Happy, Lucy! Pack your bags! Team Morningstar is going on our first S-Class quest to Galuna Island!"

Everyone in the guild was shocked, except for Laxus, who just keep his arrogant smirk. "Better start planing the funeral arrangements."

"Oh yeah! We're ready for the big time!" Natsu cheered. Alyssa looked with surprise before slamming her fist on her palm.

"Finally! I've been waiting for this!" The speed queen said with a smirk.

"I got get my fishing gear ready!" Happy stated as he ran off.

"Wait? What? Who?" Lucy asked in confusion. "What the hell's an S-Class?"

Lyle looked at his son with concern and saw the expression on his son's face. His mind went to an image of his wife with the same expression. 'He really does take after you, Amelia.'

_**Meanwhile...** _

In the hall of the Tortoise Shell guild, all of the wizards laid uncounsicous as several men & woman in pirate attire searched through the building. The floors, tables, bar and walls had been tore up from the earlier battle as a young man was walking through the wreckage, a modified saber sheathed on his left waist and a modified flintlock in his right holster. With outfit consisted of an elaborate red pirate coat that contrasted sharpy with his short dark blue hair and right brown eye. The other one being covered by a black eye patch.

"Pathetic." The one-eyed man stated as walked past some downed wizards. "I know Tortoise Shell isn't a top-tier guild, but I expected a better fight than this."

"Captain!" The young man looked up and saw an orange and black-stripped anthropomorphic male tiger that was standing on his hind legs. He wore a pair on black pants and his had a few scars on his face. "I found something you might be interested in." The tiger jumped from the second floor and landed in front of the young pirate. The tiger then handed the blue-haired man a piece of paper.

"Galuna Island? Why would that interest me, Hu?"

"Look at the reward. And I'm not talking about the 7,000,000 jewels." The one-eyed man looked down at the reward offered and smiled.

"Excellent work, old friend." The Captain said as he pulled out a red key from his coat. The key had a claw as the teeth and a claw-slashing symbol on end of it. "Tell the others I said hi."

"Sure thing." The tiger said with a grin as he vanished in a stream of light, the Captain put away the key.

"Alright, guys! Collect our fee and ready the ship!" The young pirate said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "We're headed for Galuna!"

"Aye-aye, Captain!" The men and women replied, ready to follow their young leader.

_**To be continued...** _

(We see chibi versions of Natsu and Zeke in front of the request board.)

Natsu: You know, Laxus seems to become a bigger jerk everytime we see him.

Zeke: Preaching to the choir here, Natsu. They really should do personality screenings before they give someone an S-Class rank.

Natsu: But then Erza would probably glare her way past it.

Zeke: That's true. But we're gonna show everyone that Team Morningstar really is the strongest team in Fairy Tail!

Natsu: Damn Right!

Zeke: Next time: The Curse of Galuna Island! I'll blast any enemy to pieces!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 2: Okay, I'll freely admit that the stuff with the trial was not my best work, but then again I'm not a lawyer. Also, if you need a reference for the Captain's look, just search up Captain Marvelous from Kaizou Sentai Gokaiger. And if his hair and eye color seem familiar, don't spoil it for anyone who hasn't guessed it.
> 
> And before anyone says anything, yes the Mystogan in this story is not Edolas Jellal. And his magic is different if the sword wasn't a dead giveaway.
> 
> And I'll be honest, I'm mostly neutral with the canon Galuna Island arc. I don't hate it or love it. Though that also might come from the fact Gray isn't even part of my top 10 Fairy Tail characters list. No, this doesn't mean I hate Gray.
> 
> Thanks for all your support and please keep reading & reviewing!


	7. The Curse of Galuna Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: Sorry about the wait! I'm still looking for a new job and I've gotten back in Tales of Graces F. P.S. I don't own anything except my OCs and original magic.

"You know, you still have a chance to back out of this." Lyle said to his son as the younger man was packing his bag for the mission at hand.

"Not gonna happen, Dad." Zeke replied as he packed his information Lacrima.

"If it's about what Laxus said..."

"It's not!" Zeke turned and shouted. His father gave him the 'really?' look and the archer shrugged. "Okay, it kind of is."

"All I'm saying is that you don't have do an S-Class job just because that's one everyone expects." Lyle stated. "It took me almost a year before I had the courage to go on my first job."

"Yes, but it's two years since my last S-Class mission." Zeke replied. "And the only reason I failed was because I went alone. This time, I got the rest of Morningstar to back me up."

Lyle sighed at his son's stubbornness. 'Well at least he's going with his team.' He rubbed his temples before looking Zeke in the eyes. "Just keep this in mind; if the mission goes south, there's no shame in coming back ahead of time."

Zeke looked at his father and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine."

As Zeke left to go meet up with his friends, the older S-Class wizard looked back at a photo of Team Crosshair in their youth. He sighed, thinking about how much time had passed since those days. Now he was a husband, a father and now saw his son about to take on the same type of missions he used to take.

_**And then...** _

'This really brings back memories.' Lucy thought to herself as the group walked through the streets of Hargeon. After Mirajane explained the nature of S-Class missions, the Celestial Wizard was naturally scared but then remembered that she had her team with her (that and the other reward was a rare Celestial Key). After boarding the train, the group had arrived in Hargeon to catch a boat to Galuna Island. 'Hard to believe its only been a few weeks since we meet.'

The five of them continued their trek through the town and saw that the port town had greatly recovered since their battle with Bora the Prominence. They reached the dock and started asking around for a boat to Galuna Island, however nobody seemed to be willing to take them. Every sailor seemed to be afraid of the supposed curse, including the guy they were currently talking with.

"Look, sir. If it's a money issue..."

"It's not that." A sailor with a beard, bandana and his body mostly covered in a cloak interrupted Zeke. "That island is cursed. Why do you even want to go to Galuna so bad?"

"We're going to get rid of the curse!" An annoyed Natsu yelled as his head burst into flames. "Why else would we get on damned water carriage of nausea!?"

The sailor raised his eyes at the flaming young man and looked at the group. "Are you guys wizards?"

"That's right." Alyssa replied as she tried to put out her boyfriend's fire. The bandana-wearing sailor looked over the group for a second.

"Get on." He said, gesturing to his row boat. Zeke and Lucy looked at each other in confusion as the group boarded the boat. As soon as they started to leave, Natsu's chronic motion sickness kicked in as he leaned on Alyssa.

"Is your friend going to be alright?" The sailor asked.

"Ya, he just gets that way on boats. And trains. And carriages. And park rides. Basically anything that isn't an animal." Happy replied with a deadpan expression, making the sailor sweat-drop.

"Anyway, I'm Zeke." The brunette archer introduced himself and started introducing the others. "This is Natsu, Alyssa, Lucy and Happy. We're Team Morningstar of Fairy Tail."

"I'm Bobo." The sailor greeted back.

"So Bobo, why did you change your mind when you found out we were wizards?" Lucy asked, making the sailor frown as he looked in the distance.

"I'm a former resident of Galuna Island." He said, making the four gasp. "I escaped from that cursed place, but my father and everyone else on the island are still suffering from that damn curse. You guys are the first wizards who have taken an interest in breaking the curse."

"Speaking of which, what exactly is this curse?" Zeke asked. "The job request wasn't very specific about it."

Bobo just sighed as he removed his cloak, revealing his demonic left arm. The four of them looked in shock as the cursed man looked at the five with a pleading look. "Can you really get rid of this?"

The group gave each other a look before Zeke looked up at the cursed sailor with a determined expression. "We'll try."

Hours passed as night fell on the sea, Team Morningstar and Bobo still sailing through the ocean.

"There it is." Bobo said, pointing to a crescent-shaped island in the distance. The wizards looked at the island as Lucy noticed a spec of light coming from the highest point of the island.

"So that's Galu..." Alyssa said before noticing that Bobo was no longer on the boat. "Bobo? Where are you?"

"Did he fall off?" Happy asked as he looked over the side, a bit freaked out at this.

"What the hell?" Zeke asked as he looked around. "Bobo! Are you okay?"

"Guys." They heard Natsu moan and saw him pointing towards something. And that something happened to be a massive tidal wave heading their way.

"AHHHHH! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?" Lucy shrieked.

"Everyone hold on!" Alyssa yelled as she held Natsu and Happy close to her.

"That crazy fortune-teller was right!" Zeke yelled, this being the second tidal wave he encountered this month as it started to pull them in. "OH SHI..."

And that was the last conscious thought any of them would have for a feel hours as the massive wave hit the boat.

On the island, a young man with dog-like features stopped and turned towards the ocean.

"Something wrong, Toby?" A blue-haired man in a green outfit asked.

"Could've swore I heard someone screaming." The dog boy said. "Meh. Must be my imagination."

A few hours later, Natsu started to come to as he heard the sound of seagulls in the distance. He sat up and saw that he was now on an island in the daytime and that his team was lying around him, still knocked out. 'This must be Galuna.' The dragon-slayer thought to himself as he looked around, noticing the bizarre-looking plant life. 'It doesn't look cursed, just weird.' He then walked towards Alyssa and held her up into a sitting position. "Alyssa, wake up!"

The orange-haired woman woke up from her boyfriend shaking her. "Natsu?" She looked around and saw her teammates starting to get up.

"Uh...I feel like I just went ten rounds with a vulcan." Lucy stated as she got up, cracking her joints.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes." Happy groaned. "And I really need to expand my food pallet."

"I've been saying that for years." Zeke replied as he wiped the sand off his pendant. "So is everyone okay?"

"Seems like it." Alyssa replied as she got back up. "Luckily we landed on the sand."

"On the plus side, the boat's been totaled." Natsu said, revealed to see the accursed vehicle destroyed.

"How is that a good thing?" Lucy asked. "That means we're stuck on cursed island!"

"Well we can just swim back to the mainland after the mission's done."

"It took us seven hours to get here by boat." Zeke retorted. "It would take twice as long to swim back. And that's if we don't get eaten by sharks or die of hypothermia."

"Just a suggestion." The dragon-slayer pouted.

"Anyway, this island only has one village, so they're probably the ones that sent the request." The archer said as he pulled out the request, which thankfully had a map of the island on it. "Let's get a move on!"

The group journeyed through the island and reached the village by nightfall, coming across a large wooden gate with a big 'Keep Out' sign on it.

"Hey, is anyone home?" Zeke asked loudly.

"Can someone please open the gate?" Lucy asked.

No one answered for a bit before Natsu made another suggestion. "Let's break it."

"NO/NO WAY!" Zeke and Lucy yelled.

"Geez, take a joke." Natsu replied.

"Hey, there's someone up top." Alyssa stated, pointing up to two men standing behind the wall.

"Who's there?!" One of them asked.

"We're from the Fairy Tail guild!" Lucy replied to the guards. "We're here because of your request!"

"You're the team from Fairy Tail?" One of them asked.

"We were expecting real wizards, not a bunch of kids." The other guy stated.

"All of us are over eighteen, ya jerks!" Natsu yelled. "Except for Happy. He's about eight."

"That's almost fifty in cat years, so respect your elders!" Happy yelled at the guards.

"You guys aren't helping." Alyssa stated.

"Besides, we're one of Fairy Tail's strongest teams. We were officially approved by our guild master to handle this mission." Zeke stated, making the two guards look at each other before turning back at the group.

"If you're really wizards, then show us your guild marks." The group smirked and did just that, Zeke pulled down his shirt collar, Natsu, Alyssa and Lucy showing theirs and Happy taking off his backpack and showing the green guild mark on his back.

"Those are real! Open the gate!" One of the guards said.

"I'll go alert the chief. You guys can come in." The other guard said as the gate started to rise. They walked in and noticed that the guard was covered in a cloak that concealed everything but his eyes. He lead the team to a group of villagers gathered in the middle of town, all wearing the same concealing clocks as one of the smaller figures approached them.

"Thank you for coming, young wizards." The old man said. "I am Moka, the chief of this village. And must warn that what you are about to see terrify you. Everyone, take off your cloaks." The villagers did just that, showing that each of them had gained some kind of demonic feature on their body, Moka having his right and left leg being demonic. But the ever-blunt Natsu's attention was drawn to something else.

"Your sideburns are huge!"

"Why thank you." The elder replied, believing it to be a complement.

"Woah." Lucy said. "So everyone..."

"Yes, everyone, even the animals are affected by this curse." The elder said with a heavy expression.

"Just throwing it out there, but are you guys sure this is a curse?" Alyssa asked. "Maybe its some kind of disease."

"That's what we first thought. But I've shown this arm to many doctors and none of them have ever seen a disease like this. And the moon's magic also plays a role in this."

"The moon's magic?" Lucy asked as Moka nodded his head.

"Since ancient times, this island has been bathed in moonlight, making it beautiful. But a few years ago, the moon over Galuna suddenly turned purple."

"Come again?" Zeke asked, confused by such a statement. "I don't think the moon can turn purple."

"Everyone on the mainland says that, but it's true. At least for this island." Moka replied. "After the moon changed, our bodies started to change with it."

"Ah! Look at the moon!" Happy yelled, the group turning to see the clouds that blocked the moonlight started to pass, revealing a purple full moon. Lucy covered her mouth in shock as the others looked in shock as well.

"That's not physically possible." Zeke stated, creeped out by this unnaturally phenomenon. "The moon looked normal last night."

"Oh no!" Moka said, getting their attention. "It's starting again!" He yelled in pain, the rest of the villagers doing the same and scaring the group. They continued to look on in horror as the inhabitants of Galuna become more and more demonic until their transformation had ended.

"Sorry about that." The elder apologized as his transformation was finished. "This is what happens to us when the moon comes out."

"That's horrible." Lucy whispered. The group saw a few of the demons starting to tear up.

"Woah. You guys...look awesome!" Natsu exclaimed, surprising everyone. "I mean you got horns and claws and I even think I see a few wings on some of you! That's so cool!"

"Natsu, you're being really insensitive!" Lucy chastised him. "They don't want to look like this!"

"Oh, right! My bad!" Natsu apologized

"That's the first time anyone's said that we look cool." One of the villagers said. A few of the island girls giggled and the dragon-slayer felt a creepy tingle down his spine.

"If this isn't a curse, then what is it?" Moka said, reminder everyone of the situation. "Sure we all transform back to human by morning. But recently, there are those who don't change back. They lose their minds and become vicious monsters."

"So what happens to them?" Zeke asked as he looked around the village. "I don't see any prisons, so what do you do with the people that turn feral?"

"We tried to lock them up, but every time they would just break out." Moka replied as tears started appearing in his eyes. "We have no choice but to put down anyone who becomes a mindless monster."

The group recoiled at this information. "What?! You just kill them?! They could've turned back to normal if you had just..." Natsu started to yell until he noticed Moka clutching a photo in his hands as he continued to cry.

"I know this law is sinful, but we had no choice. We had to defend ourselves. I was even forced to kill my own son when he lost himself!" The elder cried out as he showed them the photo. As if the earlier transformation and horrific implications weren't enough to terrify the team, they recognized the man in photo as Bobo!

"But...that's impossible." Lucy trembled. "We saw..." She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Alyssa shaking her head no.

"That's why he disappeared." Zeke whispered to himself. "He can't rest in peace as long as this keeps happening."

"It's only a matter of time before we all become mindless monsters!" Moka cried as he bowed to the Fairy Tail wizards. "I beg of you! Please save our island!"

"Don't worry." Alyssa said as she kneeled down to the demonic-looking man and placed her hands on his shoulders. The man looked up and saw the comforting expression on her face. "You guys won't suffer anymore. We promise."

"Thank you." The elder said as he wiped away his tears, his expression becoming serious. "We've realized that there is only one way to lift this curse." He pointed upward. "You must destroy the moon!"

"HUH?!" Team Morningstar yelled, utterly baffled by this statement.

_**And then...** _

"I never thought the moon could look this creepy." Happy said as he looked up at the moon.

"Then stop standing outside the window." Lucy said as the group was unpacking their things in a cabin that the villagers loaned to them. "You heard the chief. The more we're exposed to the moonlight, the higher the risk of us turning into demons."

"Regardless of that, we need a game plan." Zeke said as he unrolled his sleeping bag. "And since destroying the moon is out of the question, we have to find what caused it to turn purple."

"Right. Even if we  _that_ , we couldn't destroy the moon." Alyssa said as she changed into her pajamas behind a privacy screen.

" _That_? What do mean by  _that_?" Lucy asked, only for no one to answer.

"Looks like we'll have to do some investigating." Natsu stated as he laid down on his sleeping bag as Alyssa emerged wearing full-body purple pajamas. "We'll start looking first thing tomorrow."

"Aye, sir. That means no hanky-panky for you two." Happy said with a mischievous expression as he pointed at Natsu and Alyssa.

"HAPPY!" The red-faced couple yelled at the cat as Lucy tucked herself into her bag. As the group went to sleep, they and everyone else on Galuna Island were unaware of a man with bird-like features watching the island from the sky. After observing the moon for a bit, the blue-feathered birdman flew away from the island, no one aware of his presence.

Morning came around hours later as Natsu got up and started to stretch. He noticed Lucy was styling her hair and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't think you'd be the first one up." The dragon-slayer commented.

"Well, between the curse looming over us, a village populated by demon people who can go nuts at anytime and you snoring like a dragon, I had a hard time falling asleep." Lucy replied as she finished her hair.

"Sorry about that." Natsu said in embarrassment. A little while later, the group was full-dressed and walking through the jungle to investigate. Well, Natsu, Alyssa, Zeke and Happy were walking while Lucy was sitting inside Horologium.

"Are you sure you can use your spirits like that?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm not taking any chances with a cursed island, she states."

"Whatever makes you feel safe." Zeke replied as he looked over a map that Moka gave them for their investigation. "Alright, we should probably start with the Moon temple. Apparently whenever the villagers send someone to investigate, they something get sent back to village with no memory of what happened. If that's not a sign of cursed weirdness, I don't what is."

Natsu was about to say something until he picked up on the sound of rustling and growling. "Guys, something's headed our way! 6 o'clock!" The group turned in the direction the dragon-slayer pointed out and saw a massive rat burst from the trees, freaking Lucy and Happy out.

"Natsu! Alyssa! Maneuver 35!" Zeke ordered as his teammates nodded. Alyssa held out her hands like platforms as Natsu and Zeke jumped on before she tossed them into the air, evading a blast of air unleashed by the giant rat. As they got up higher, both Zeke and Natsu launched their respective spells.

" _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ "

" _Fire Dragon Roar!_ "

The magical arrows and fire were more than enough to blast the rat into unconsciousness as the two landed.

"Sometimes I forget how crazy strong those three are." Lucy said inside Horologium.

"They're the strongest team." Happy said as he stood next to her.

"When did you sneak in?!"

"Well, that was annoying." Zeke said as he banished his longbow before looking around and seeing something in the distance. "Hey guys! I found the temple!"

"Alright!" Natsu and Alyssa said as Lucy and Happy followed them after Horologium vanished. As they entered the temple the group noticed how ancient it was with cracks and moss everywhere.

"Wow...I wonder when this place was built?" Lucy commented as Team Morningstar looked around.

"I'd say a few hundred years." Zeke replied as he wrote down notes on the ruins.

"It's big, I'll give it that." Natsu commented with his arms crossed.

"There's moon drawings all over the place." Alyssa stated.

"Considering Galuna was originally called Moon Island, that's not much of surprise." The archer stated back as started looking over the walls for cursed glyphs or other things of that nature.

"Hmm." The blonde wizard muttered as she placed her hand on her chin. "A moon island, a moon curse and now moon emblems. Something seems very fishy."

"I wonder if this old place is even sturdy." Natsu said as he gave the floor beneath him an experimental tap. When he heard an echo beneath the floor, he placed his ear on the floor and started lightly tapping the floor. Hearing this continuous echo was enough to warrant an investigation. "Hey guys! The floor underneath us is hollowed out! I think it leads somewhere!"

"Hang on." Alyssa said as she, Zeke and Happy got back a fair distance, Lucy doing the same as Natsu jumped and unleashed a fireball, destroying the spot and revealing a tunnel down. Zeke pulled out ropes from his backpack and the group lowered themselves down the hole, finding a series of tunnels that went underneath the temple. With Natsu using one of his lit hands as a makeshift torch, the group traversed the tunnel and started to notice the temperature around them starting to shift.

"Anyone else feeling a little nippy?" Alyssa asked as the group reached a clearing and found something extraordinary.

Standing above a pool of water was a horned demon the size of Lullaby, frozen in a large block of ice. The group looked on in awe at the sight.

"Okay. I think we might've found the source of the curse." Zeke said in astonishment as he pulled out his information Lacrima to see if any recorded demons matched the frozen creature in front of them.

"How is that Ice even holding when it's 98 degrees outside?" Alyssa asked as Natsu sniffed the ice, recoiling in shock. "What's wrong?"

"Well, aside from the demon, this ice almost smells...alive." The dragon-slayer said, utterly confused at what his senses were telling him.

"This just keeps getting creepier." Lucy said as she looked up at the monster, fear evident in her eyes.

Meanwhile, a ship was sailing the waters as the midday sun shined on them. The flag of the ship had a star in place of the usual Jolly-Rodger with a sword and a pistol forming and X behind it. Behind the wheel of the ship was the same blue-haired pirate that had taken on the Tortoise Guild a few days ago. He was currently talking in a twenty-something woman in a brown vest, short yellow hair and tanned skin.

"According to Aquila's report, we should reach Galuna Island by nightfall." The woman reported.

"Thank you for informing me, Oswell." The young captain replied as he looked into the distance, enjoying the smell of the sea. "I want our portable cannons prepared to leave as soon we drop anchor.

"Aye-aye, Captain." Oswell replied as she traveled down to the lower deck, leaving the captain along as he gripped a necklace underneath his coat.

'Another step to achieving my goal.' He thought to himself, steeling his will for the upcoming battle. 'And no one, not even the infamous Fairy Tail is gonna stand in my way!'

_To be continued..._

(We see Chibi versions of Zeke and Alyssa standing in front of the frozen demon.)

Alyssa: This island just gets more and more bizarre the more we explore it.

Zeke: I know. A purple moon, people turning into demons, a giant rat in a maid outfit...

Alyssa: Wait! What maid outfit?

Zeke: You didn't notice that. We seem to running into weird stuff involving maids a lot.

Alyssa: Now that you mention it, that is pretty weird.

Alyssa: Next time: The Cold Emperor! See if you can catch me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: Sorry for the longer wait times and shorter length of these last two chapters. But next chapter is when we get to the heavy stuff!
> 
> Thanks for the support and please remember to read & review!


	8. The Cold Emperor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: Sorry for the late update. I've had to deal with...some stuff. I don't own anything except my OCs and original magic. Also, the pirate captain's voice actor would be Steve Blum. And to elaborate of First Mate Oswell's appearance, she has neck-length dirty blonde hair that covers her eyes, is in her mid-thirties, a brown pirate vest over a white shirt, white pants, brown boots and brown gloves.
> 
> And the other reason this chapter took longer than usual: Fairy Tail: A New Day is on the Fairy Tail Fanfic Recs page and even has a page of its own on TV Tropes! And if any tropes are reading this, I would super-appreciate someone commenting and recommending it on the Rec page and help in editing the trope page.
> 
> And with that long explanation out of the way, let's see some insane Wiz-Biz! (I apologize if no one found that joke funny.)

Team Morningstar had been sitting by the large frozen creature for a few minutes as Zeke keep looking through his database lacrima. As they sat, Natsu keep looking at the ice in confusion. Not many people knew this, but their were subtle differences in scent when it came to living beings and inanimate objects. And the ice that surrounded the giant monster smelled more like a living being than just a block of ice.

'Am I just getting the monster's scent mixed in?' He sniffed the air again. 'Nope, that thing smells like blood, way too different from the ice smell.'

"I think I found it." Zeke said, getting everyone's attention. "This thing is known as Deliora, the Demon of Destruction. Ten years ago, it rampaged through the northern continent, killing thousands. But it was stopped when a master Ice Wizard called Ur sealed it away, giving her life in the process."

"But if Deliora was sealed in the North, what's it doing on Galuna Island?" Lucy asked.

"And that is the million jewel question." Alyssa replied.

"That and what's really causing the curse, because nothing in the reports say anything about Deliora turning people into demons or causing the moon to change color." Zeke stated. But before they could discuss the matter some more, they heard footsteps heading their way and decided to hide behind some rocks. As the footsteps drew closer, they saw a blue-haired man, a man with dog-like features and a tall woman with an athletic physique, pale skin, short silver hair, blue eyes, a black top with matching jacket, pants, combat boots and a large silver hammer strapped onto her back.

"The voices seem to come from down here." The blue-haired man stated as the dog man growled. "I don't know about you guys, but I hate being awake during the day."

"You're the only one who's like that." The black-clad woman said before turning to their animalistic friend. "By the way Toby, I think you've been exposed to too much Moon Drip since you got those pointy ears."

"I already told you that this is a fashion statement you jerks!" The dog man yelled.

"Come on, she's just teasing you." The blue-haired man said as the tall woman smiled, making Toby blush.

"Well you don't be so mean about it."

'Moon Drip? That must be the name of the curse.' Zeke thought to himself as a woman with dark pink hair, black lolita clothing and dark blue eyes walked towards the three.

"Yuka, Toby, Claudia. Something terrible has happened." The woman said.

"What now, Cherry?" The blue-haired man (now identified as Yuka) asked.

"It's Angelica. She's been attacked and I'm sad."

"You're moping around because somebody beat up your stupid pet rat?!" Toby yelled.

"She's not a rat. She's a brave hunter prowling the jungle to protect us. She is...love."

Both Cherry's comrades and the hidden Team Morningstar sweat-dropped at the bizarre statement.

"Are we sure the Moon Drip isn't affecting your brain?" Claudia asked with a deadpan expression, making the smaller woman pout at her in anger.

"I don't know who these people are, but talk about a bunch of weirdos. Especially the chick with the pet rat." Lucy whispered to her team.

"Judging by the scent I picked up off them, they're not from the island." Natsu stated.

"And they don't look like they have the demon curse." Happy chimed in.

"Intruders you say?" Yuka asked.

"And it's almost time to begin collecting moonlight again. Oh, this makes me so sad." Cherry stated before turning to her comrades. "This news would displease the Cold Emperor. We should get rid of them before he finds out."

A savage grin appeared on Claudia's face. "Fine by me. It's been a while since my hammer's seen battle. Hopefully these intruders won't go down too easily."

"Agreed." Yuka said with a grin of his own as Toby growled.

"Since they've seen Deliora, we can't allow them to live. We'll give them the gift of eternal rest. We'll give...them love."

"You're talking about death, right?" Toby asked with sweat drop. Alyssa looked around a saw a small pebble near her. Discreetly using her magic to enhance her throwing arm, she chucked the pebble far away from them, getting the other group's attention as they went to investigate the noise.

"Nice work, Alyssa." Happy said.

"Thanks little guy." The speed queen said as she petted his head, making the blue cat purr.

"We should've grabbed them and beat some answers out of them." Natsu stated.

"Not yet. We gotta do some investigating." Lucy answered.

"Man. This job keeps getting more and more complicated." The dragon-slayer commented.

Zeke started searching through his info lacrima and found profiles on each of the mysterious people. "According to these files, all four of them are wizards. The guy with the eyebrows is Yuka the Wave, well-known for using energy waves to negate enemy magic. The dog boy is called Toby, who specializes in Paralyzing Magic in his claws. The lolita weirdo is Meredy, a master of Marionette Attack Magic that allows her to control any living thing that isn't human, which probably means she was behind that giant rat we fought earlier. And finally the big lady is called Claudia the Iron Hammer, a mercenary wizard known for her devastating hammer magic. But none of their psych profiles suggests that they would be a part of this. In fact, Toby and Yuka were part of the Lamia Scale guild."

"Anything on this Cold Emperor guy they mentioned?" Happy asked. Zeke once again browsed but nodded his head when he found nothing.

"Let's just smash that demon into a million pieces before do anything with it!" Natsu yelled, still feeling uncomfortable about the strange ice.

"It won't work. The spell Ur used is called the Iced Shell. It's nigh indestructible. Even your Azure Flames wouldn't be able to melt it." The brunette archer stated as his salmon-haired friend scowled.

"If the ice can't be melted, why would they even bother bringing it all the here from the North?" Alyssa asked.

"Maybe they didn't know." Lucy chimed in. "They might've brought here to try and melt it somehow."

"Even so, why would they try and unfreeze something that slaughtered so many people?" Natsu asked.

"Well, we should probably wait until the moon comes out." Zeke stated.

"The moon! But it's the middle of the afternoon!" Natsu yelled. "Why would the moon even matter?"

"Those guys mentioned that they were collecting moonlight. So it's a safe bet that Deliora and the curse are connected." Zeke explained. "Plus, we can use this time to come up with strategies in case we have to fight those guys and learn more about this Moon Drip thing and the Iced Shell. Find out what they have in common."

Natsu growled but sat down. He didn't want to admit it, but Zeke raised a good point. And usually his hunches were right.

And so, the group started discussing plans on how to beat the four wizards and started throwing around ideas about Deliora's connection to the curse and the Moon Drip. As they talked, none of them noticed the ice shining for a second, almost as if it was blinking at them.

"I know I agreed to wait around, but this so boring." Lucy groaned.

"Aye." Happy replied. The blonde woman then had an idea in her head and pulled out a silver Gate key.

" _Open, Gate of the Harp Constellation - Lyra!_ " Out of the gate came woman with strawberry blonde hair, blushing cheeks, a blue dress with a pink hood and wings and an elegant harp on her back.

"Oh wow! I haven't seen you forever, Lucy!" The Harp spirit said with a cheerful expression.

"Hey, Lyra." The blonde greeted her spirit.

"Say, how come you never call me anymore? It's not fair! I would love to help you out, but you ignore me meanie."

"Meanie, huh? You're the one who told me you were only available three days a month." Lucy replied, making Lyra gasp.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Wow, that's really unreliable." Alyssa stated as Zeke and Natsu nodded in agreement.

"Great. Another weirdo." Happy said with a sweat drop.

"So what would you like to hear me sing? Any requests?" Lyra asked.

"Nope. Whatever you want."

"Okay, I've got a song I think you're gonna love Lucy!" The enthusiastic harp spirit stated as set up her harp and started playing it. What followed as a beautiful ballet strengthened by Lyra's wonderful singing voice. As the harp spirit continued her song, the three founding members of Team Morningstar started thinking back to parts of their past. Natsu thought back when Igneel found him when he was along in the woods and all the great times he had his adoptive father. Alyssa thought back to when she first arrived in Fairy Tail, Makarov welcoming her with a warm smile. And Zeke thought back to when his mother told him stories about his ancestors and her own heroic feats as a wizard of Fairy Tail.

After the song had ended, the group continued to wait until they eventually fell asleep, Natsu & Alyssa sleeping close to each other with Happy in between them, Lucy laying on her side, and Zeke using his backpack as a pillow. However, their slumber was suddenly interrupted as the cavern started to shake.

"What's that weird noise?" Lucy asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Is it night yet!?" Natsu bolted up as Alyssa followed. Zeke jumped up with a start and soon Team Morningstar saw a purple magic seal appear on the roof of the cavern. The seal grew bigger as it shined a beam of light down on the frozen demon.

"That must be the moonlight." Zeke reasoned based on the purple light drips that were falling from the circle. "Come on guys, we have to find out where that light's coming from!"

"Aye!" Happy replied as the team ran out of the cavern and found a set of stairs. They ran up and it led them to an upper level, where they saw two magic circles on the floor and ceiling, making the moonlight flow through them like a tube. The group decided to keep running through the upper floors until they reached the roof of the temple. They spotted several people in weird robes chanting in a circle of purple moonlight with four magic seals channeling the moonlight above them.

"Looks like those robbed freaks are chanting some kind of spell to collect the moonlight." Natsu stated as Team Morningstar hid behind some rocks.

"Someone's coming this way." Alyssa said as the group turned their attention towards an approaching figure. It was a male with a silver-horned helmet that hid everything but his pale jaw, a purple tassel, a white cloak over a blue and yellow undercoat, and silver armored boots. Walking with him was Yuka, Claudia, Toby and Cherry.

"What a waste. I lost so much precious sleep for nothing." An annoyed Yuka stated. "We searched all day for the intruders but never found a trace of them."

"Maybe there wasn't any!" Toby yelled, annoyed at having wasted so much time.

"Right, and Angelica just decided to light herself on fire." Claudia responded sarcastically.

"I'm afraid I have some sad news, Cold Emperor." Cherry said sadly as they stopped near the chanting people. "We thought we had intruders during the day, but it seems they got away somehow. I cannot speak of love in this situation."

"Intruders?" The emperor said in a cold voice.

"So that's the Cold Emperor." Zeke whispered as he started sizing up the new arrival.

"He's trying to act all high and mighty. Wearing that stupid-looking mask." Lucy commented.

"I don't know. I think it looks kind of cool." Happy replied.

"Has Deliora been awakened yet?" The Cold Emperor asked.

"It should be unthawed later tonight or tomorrow." The pink-haired woman replied.

"Which one girl?!" Toby yelled out.

"The time has almost come. If you see those intruders again, kill them." The helmet-clad man told his underlings. "I don't want anyone getting in my way."

"They must've been villagers. They're the only other people on this island." Claudia stated.

"Then destroy the village." The Cold Emperor ordered as the four nodded in agreement, shocking the hidden team.

"Okay, I think it's time to drop our cover." Zeke said as he glared at the Cold Emperor and summoned his longbow.

"It's a shame there has to be bloodshed." The emperor stated.

"Natsu, greet them in that special Salamander way." The brunette ordered as Natsu jumped on top of their cover.

"It's not the villagers, we're the intruders around here!" The salmon-haired wizard yelled, getting their enemy's attention as he sucked in some air. " _Fire Dragon Roar!_ "

Claudia, Yuka, Cherry and Toby jumped out of the way as the Cold Emperor waved his hand, creating a light blue magic circle. Before the flames could hit, a pillar of ice appeared in front of him, blocking the attack.

"He's an Ice Wizard!" Alyssa stated as the rest of Morningstar stood up, ready for battle.

"I know that mark." Cherry stated as she saw the mark on Natsu's shoulder. "They're from Fairy Tail."

"Interesting. Those villagers must have gone to the magical guilds for help." Yuka chimed in.

"Don't worry about them. Go eradicate the village." The Cold Emperor said.

"But we're the ones you're after!" Alyssa yelled. "Why would you even considering killing the villagers!?"

"Anyone who stands in my way, whether deliberately or not, is my enemy!" The Cold Emperor stated with a clenched fist.

"Say what?!" Natsu yelled in anger as he charged with flaming fists, Alyssa running next to him. Claudia smirked and grabbed her massive hammer, creating a yellow magic circle on one end.

" _Hammer Wave!_ " The silver-haired woman yelled as she brought the hammer down, creating a shockwave that the young couple was forced to dodge.

"Stop this now! You have no idea what Deliora's capable of!" Zeke yelled as prepared several arrows and loaded them. " _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ "

The mercenary wizard saw this attack and started twirling her hammer like a pin wheel. " _Hammer Shield!_ " The powerful weapon managed to block all of the energy arrows fired, Claudia placing the hammer over her shoulders.

"Claudia, go with the others. I can handle these intruders on my own." The Cold Emperor ordered, making the mercenary scowl.

"Just make sure to leave one of them alive for me. I'm tired of having nothing to fight." The silver-haired woman said as she left with the other three, leaving their leader alone against the five Fairy Tail Wizards.

"Hey, come back here!" Natsu yelled as he ran after them. Unfortunately for him, the dragon-slayer was engulfed in a furry of ice, screaming as he body started to rapidly freeze-over.

"Alyssa, go help Natsu! Happy, Lucy! You guys warn the villagers!" Zeke ordered as he fired another Rapid Succession spell that the Cold Emperor blocked with an Ice Shield.

"But what about..."

"I can handle Mr. Snowstorm here!" The archer yelled at Lucy. "You guys need to stop his posse!"

"Aye!" Happy said as he wrapped his tail around Lucy and flew off. Alyssa nodded as she grabbed her immobile boyfriend and took off at super-speed, leaving the two leaders facing each other.

"Confident, aren't we?" The Cold Emperor said as the two stared each other down. "What makes you think you can last longer than your friend?"

"Simple." The brunette said with a confident smirk as he held out his longbow in front of him. "I am Ezekiel Laurence Hudson, son of the hero Amelia Hudson and the Immovable Lyle Hudson of Fairy Tail! And unlike Natsu, I don't have to get close to beat you!"

"A Hudson? Well, this is turning out to be an interesting day." The Ice Wizard smirked as cold mist started gathering around his body.

" _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ " Zeke yelled as he fired a stream of arrows, only for the helmet wearing ice wizard to create an ice barrier.

" _Ice Make: Sparrows!_ " The Cold Emperor created a magic circle that unleashed a swarm of ice birds at the brunette. Zeke jumped out of the way but to his surprise, the ice birds changed direction, one of them leaving a cut on left arm as he quickly shot down the swarm.

'His Ice can shift direction. Better keep that in mind.'

" _Ice Make: Tiger!_ " The so-called emperor exclaimed as a giant tiger of ice charged at Zeke. However, Zeke grabbed the scabbard and sliced up the ice beast before throwing the Spiral Sword which the Cold Emperor blocked with a thick Ice Barrier. But as the helmet-wearing villain was blocking the spinning blade, Zeke prepared a spiralling arrow.

" _Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!_ " Zeke chanted and fired, breaking through the ice barrier as the emperor side-stepped, the attack shattering the left side of his helmet as he quickly reclaimed his footing. The now shattered helmet revealed his pale skin, pale blue hair and brown eyes as he chuckled.

"Congrats. It's been a while since anyone's laid a hit on me in battle." He said as he removed the rest of his shattered helmet. "It'll be the last."

"Ya, before we go back to trying to skewer each other with arrows and ice creatures respectively, can I ask you something?"

"Is this a trick?"

"No, just here me out. Why? Why go through all the trouble of transporting a frozen demon that has a well documented kill count? What do you gain by unleashing Deliora on the world again?" The archer asked.

The Cold Emperor raised an eyebrow before replying. "If you know about Deliora, then I assume you also know about the Ice Wizard Ur and her sacrifice to seal him away."

"Ya, that just adds a whole new level of dickery to this whole Moon Drip mess. You're making her sacrifice mean nothing!"

"Well if there's anyone who deserves to unthaw Ur's Ice Shell, it should be her best student." The blue-haired man said, surprising Zeke as he unleashed another Ice Sparrow barrage that he dodged and reclaimed his blade. "So why don't you and your Fairy Tail friends just leave well enough alone? You won't even have to worry about Deliora after I've slain it."

"Fat chance! Deliora couldn't be killed by your master, so what makes you think you can kill it?" Zeke said as he hid behind some cover, preparing several specs of energy.

"I've surpassed my dearly-departed master, and killing the demon that even Ur couldn't stop will cement my power." The Cold Emperor stated as Zeke jumped into the air and fired an Arrow Rain spell. He replied by unleashing a massive swarm of ice sparrows, the two spells cancelling each other out as Zeke redrew his Spiral Sword and came down with a swing that the Cold Emperor blocked by encasing his right arm in an Ice Shield. The emperor smirked as he quickly brought his left hand in front of Zeke's exposed stomach. " _Ice Make: Snow Dragon._ "

Zeke didn't even have a second react as a dragon of ice snapped its jaws on him, smashing his bow and sinking its teeth into torso. The archer let out a powerful scream as the dragon smashed him against the temple roof before disappearing. The brunette let out a pained moan as blood started dripping from his left arm and seep through his ripped shirt.

'What...what happened?' He thought to himself as the Cold Emperor walked towards him. 'He's just a punk with Ice magic! I'm the S-Class son of Fairy Tail's strongest couple!'

"You know Ezekiel, the two of us actually have a lot in common. We both have legacies to surpass. The difference is that with your skill and power, you have no chance of stepping out the gigantic shadow the Hudson legacy has cast on you." The pale man said with a look of pity, Zeke's eyes watering from both the pain and the words as he started to black out. With a sign, the Cold Emperor created a spear of Ice in his right hand. "But take comfort in knowing that at least one of us will step out of that shadow. Really, you should thank me for putting you out of your misery." He coldly said as he raised the spear over his head and was ready to deal the killing strike.

'Natsu...Alyssa...Happy...Lucy...Mom...Dad. I'm sorry.' Zeke thought to himself as he was unable to move from the pain. 'I failed you.'

But as the Ice Wizard brought down his spear, a familiar blur grabbed the injured archer, the spear hitting the roof instead. The Cold Emperor turned and saw Alyssa holding her bleeding friend as she glared at him. "The Speed Wizard?"

"Alyssa? Where's Natsu?" Zeke groaned.

"He's alright now and heading for the village." The amazon replied as she was forced to evade Ice pillars that the Cold Emperor sprouted from the ground. The Speed Queen quickly ran down the temple wall as the Ice Wizard looked on in amusement.

"Looks like you'll live to regret this battle, Ezekiel." He said as he dusted himself off.

Back with the two, Alyssa got them to a safe spot and started treating Zeke's wounds with medical supplies from her backpack. "Okay, the wounds aren't too deep. But you'll probably be out of commission for a while." As she applied bandage wrappings to her injured teammates chest, Alyssa noticed a tear hitting the bandage. She looked up and saw Zeke starting to tear up. "Hey, I know it hurts, but it'll only last a bit longer."

"It's not that." The archer replied as the tears started streaming down his face. "I just realized how weak I really am."

"What?! Dude, you're an S-Class wizard! That's the opposite of being weak."

"That's crap and you know it. Erza, Mystogan, my parents. Even Laxus. They can beat hordes of monsters and powerful dark wizards without breaking a sweat. And me, I can't defeat one Ice Wizard!" Zeke cried. "I can't even finish one S-Class mission on my own and I've screwed over everyone on our team by taking this mission. I'm a failure! I've failed as a Hudson! Failed as an S-Class wizard! Failed as leader of Morn..."

_**SLAP!** _

Zeke was stunned for a bit as his cheek swelled up. He turned and saw Alyssa with an angry expression before it turned into a sorrowful one. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You lose once and you start crying? You're not the only one who's ever lost to someone stronger than them. Sure, you can't destroy a monster with one punch, but that's not why you're a great wizard. Even when we were kids, me and Natsu knew you were the guy we wanted to lead us. You've saved us countless times with strategies I would've never thought of. So don't start crying just because you lost." After she finished applying the wrappings, Alyssa lifted Zeke onto her back and smiled at him. "Now come on. We're going to save the villagers and you're gonna come up with a new plan to stop the Cold Emperor."

Zeke looked at his friend and gave a small smile as he started to pass out. "Right." He said as Alyssa carrying him back towards the village, making sure to regulate her speed so she wouldn't reopen the archer's wounds.

Back at the village, Lucy and Happy arrived to warn the villagers that the people responsible for the curse were coming to destroy them. The blonde wizard tried to come up with a plan to stop the upcoming attack as Moka walked towards the only Fairy Tail wizards in the village.

"What are all of you doing out here?"

"We don't have much time, sir! The enemy's going to attack any second now!" Lucy explained.

"Enemy?"

"The ones responsible for the curse that's transformed your people! They've been hiding in an old temple in the jungle!"

"I don't care who's in the temple!" Moka exclaimed with a manic expression. "Why haven't you destroyed the moon?!"

"Well, you see...it wasn't the moon that did this to you exactly. But now we know who did."

"YOU LIE! DO WHAT I ASKED OF YOU!" The elder yelled as two demons dragged the angered man away, Lucy sweat-dropping at the sight. "Get your hands off me! She doesn't know what she's talking about!"

"He doesn't mean any of that." A red-skinned demonic man said. "He's just upset. He's been like this since Bobo died."

"Poor man." Lucy whispered before turning to the red villager. "I know how to trap the enemy."

"We'll be happy to help if you need us."

Lucy let off a confident chuckle. "I'm the greatest Celestial Wizard Fairy Tail's got. So why don't you just leave it to me? You don't have worry, it'll be a piece of cake."

'EEEE! I've always wanted to say that!' Lucy cheered in her head.

"Somebody's starting to get cocky." Happy stated. But Lucy could begin her plan, the guards on top of the gate noticed a group of people walking towards their village. He took out a telescope and saw a flag with the unmistakable symbol known as a Jolly Rodger, meaning only one thing.

"Pirates!" One of the lookouts yelled, getting everyone's attention.

"What?! Are you sure?" Lucy asked as the blue-haired pirate captain signaled his crew to use one of their portable cannons. The lookouts watched in confusion until they saw one of the pirates light the cannon.

"OH SHI..." And with that, the lookouts were blasted back as the front gate was blown to pieces. Lucy and Happy tensed as the one-eyed pirate and his crew walked through the smoke. He took a once over of the assembled villagers and decided to address them.

"Greetings citizens of Galuna Island. I am Captain Alexander Marvell of the Star Liberator Pirates." He stated. "Now I'm sure many of you are wondering why we just blew up your gate. Well let's be honest, I doubt you guys would've opened it for a crew of pirates. But as for why we are here." He pulled out a rolled up paper from his coat and unraveled it, revealing the job request for the Galuna Island mission. "I'll make this simple; hand over the 7 million jewels and your Gate Key, or you'll have to face unspeakable punishment."

The villagers started to panic a little as Lucy started to scowl at the pirate. She grabbed her whip and swung it at the pirate, only for him to dodge with a confused expression.

"You jackass! These people are going through enough without you and your crew coming in and holding them hostage!" The blonde wizard said with righteous fury. The one-eyed pirate looked at her and saw the Gate keys hanging on her belt.

'She's a Celestial Wizard. Hm, this might be fun.' Alexander thought before speaking out loud. "You got spunk, lady. I like that. Tell you what, how about you me have a one-on-one? If you win, me and my crew will leave this island. But if I win, not only do I get the reward, but come on my ship as our new bar wench."

Lucy glared at the captain. "You expect me to believe the word of a pirate?"

"Come on, even pirates have a sense of honor." The blue-haired man said as he crossed an X over his heart. "As an added measure, none of my crew will harm the villagers during our battle. Now, do you accept or should we start hurting people?"

"Fine." The celestial wizard agreed through gritted teeth as she pulled out one of her Gate Keys. "But there's no way I'm going to lose!  _Open, Gate of the Golden Bull - Taurus!_ " The axe-welding bull came out of the gate with a victorious moo.

"Thanks for calling me out, Ms. Lucy. And may I say that your bode is still smoking?" The perverted bull asked.

"Not the time, Taurus." Lucy retorted.

"Ah. So we have a golden zodiac spirit. This is gonna be fun." Alexander said as he pulled a key from his coat.

"Lucy, that looks like one of your keys, but red!" Happy exclaimed.

"What?" Lucy asked, never having seen a gate key that wasn't silver or gold.

"A red key? Damn it, not those guys." Taurus scowled.

" _Open, Gate of the Tiger - Hu!_ " The pirate captain said as he held his key out, creating a blue spirit gate. And out of the gate came the aggressive-looking tiger from before.

"So cool!" Happy said, fanboying over the large tiger.

"Well, well, well." The tiger said as he smirked at Taurus. "Looks like I get to fight one of the golden boys."

"Taurus, do you know this guy?" Lucy asked.

"Ya. He's Hu the Tiger, a spirit of the Red Zodiac." The bull spirit replied. "They've been known for being incredibly reckless and violent in battle. Most Celestial wizards tend to avoid forming a contract with this ruffians."

"What you call reckless, I call fun." Alexander said. "Hu, think you can handle Taurus?"

"No problem, Captain." The tiger spirit said as he cracked his knuckles. "Besides, it's been a while since I've had fresh meat."

"Keep dreaming, pussycat!" Taurus yelled as he brought his axe down, creating a shockwave that Alexander and Hu dodged. As the two spirits started to fight, Lucy barely had time to dodge as the pirate captain swung his saber at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I said this was a fight. Don't tell me you expected us to stand back and let our spirits do the fighting." The one-eyed wizard said as he pulled out his flintlock and started shooting, unleashing blasts of magical energy that Lucy was forced to dodge. "Come on, bring out your Celestial Arms already!"

'Celestial Arms? What is he talking about?' Lucy thought to herself as she swung her whip knocking the firearm out of Alexander's hand. She swung again, only for the tip to be sliced off by the pirate's saber.

'Lucy.' Happy thought worryingly as the two Celestial Wizards and Spirits continued their fight.

Back with the two spirits, Hu keep slashing at Taurus as the Bull spirit keep using the flat side of his axe to block it. The tiger kicked up some sand with distracted Taurus long enough for Hu to land a solid punch to the bull's jaw. Taurus quickly recovered and socked the tiger spirit right back.

"Your reputation as the physically strongest golden spirit isn't exaggerated." Hu said as he rubbed his sore jaw. "Good thing too. I was worried this would be an easy fight."

Taurus was about to say something until he noticed Lucy narrowly avoid as swipe from Alexander's sword as it cleaved through a nearby stone. He attempted to head towards the blonde, but Hu jumped front of him and slashed, making Taurus block again.

"Trying to run away?" The tiger mocked.

"I don't know how you red bastards treat your wizards, but I made a promise to protect Miss Lucy!" The bull spirit exclaimed as he headbutted the tiger, disorientating the feline and giving the bull a chance to swing down on the pirate with a furious moo. Alexander managed to block the strike with his sword, but the bull spirit's superior strength was starting to weigh down as axe started to push down.

"Captain!" Hu yelled as orange magical energy started to flow around the brutish tiger. He extended his claws as magical energy starting flowing into them. Happy watched the tiger preparing his spell with interest. " _Tiger Claw..._ "

" _FIRE DRAGON KICK!_ " From seemingly out of nowhere, Natsu flame-kicked the tiger right in the solar plexus, knocking him through a hut.

"Hu!" Alexander yelled in concern as he slipped out from Taurus' axe as it hit the ground.

"No interrupting the Captain's fight! Open fire!" Oswell ordered as the pirates started shooting at Natsu. The salmon-haired wizard ran past the gunfire and jumped in air and engulfed his arms in flames.

" _Fire Dragon Wing Attack!_ " Natsu yelled as he unleashed his fiery wing spell, knocking half of the pirates back.

"Why you!" Oswell yelled as she held out her hand, creating a blue magic circle. " _Lightning Cannon!_ "

Natsu narrowly avoided the blast of blue lightning and sucked in some air, unleashed a roar attack the knocked the dirty blonde first mate back.

"Oswell!" Alexander yelled, not noticing Lucy coming from behind and knocking him out with a coconut. With his wizard unconscious, Hu growled as he was sent back through the gate.

"Hey guys, I..." Alyssa started to say as she and the sleeping Zeke entered the village, only to be left speechless at the damage to the main square, the burnt pirates and Lucy quickly tying up the blue-haired captain. "Did I miss something?"

_**And then...** _

Alexander started to groan as he regained consciousness. When he opened his eye, he noticed that his hand a rope tied around his torso and arms.

"Captain." He turned to his left and saw Oswell and the rest of the Star Liberator pirates tied up the same way. "I'm sorry. The fire wizard took us by surprise and I underestimated his strength."

"It's alright. It happens to everyone." Alexander said as the looked at his captors, the Fairy Tail wizards watching as the village medic treated the injured brunette's wounds. "What's going on?"

"Apparently one of them was beat by someone called the Cold Emperor." The Lightning Wizard explained. "And he's the one responsible for the curse that turned the people of this island into demons."

"Figures." The blue-haired pirate said as he stood up. "Hey, Fairy Tails! You gonna untie us?"

"Why would we do that?" Lucy asked with an angry expression.

"Because you find my pirate charm unbelievably sexy?" Alexander said with a flirty expression, making his first mate groan.

"Captain, that never works."

"Not now, Oswell. This lady looks like she falls for that crap." The pirate whispered.

"Hey, Lucy. Do you really fall for that crap?" Natsu asked, surprising the two lead pirates.

"How did you hear me!?" The blue-haired captain asked, Natsu responding by pointing to his ears.

"Stop flirting with Miss Lucy! That's my job!" Taurus yelled.

"I don't know what kind of floozies you're used to, but the whole 'charming renegade' act won't work on me!" Lucy yelled as she grabbed Alexander by the collar.

"But it did get you closer." The pirate said with a smirk. "Listen, how's about you just give me the key and we'll call it even."

"Like hell!" The blonde wizard yelled as she shook him. As the two Celestial Wizards traded banter, Alyssa couldn't help but wonder about something odd. The Cold Emperor's posse had left before them, but they managed to get to village before them. And considering that she was running at half of her usual speed, this made the situation even more odd. But not as odd as what she saw when she turned her head and saw something approaching from the distance.

"Um...guys, can rats fly?" The amazonian woman asked.

"What kind of question is..." Natsu started until he looked on saw the giant rat from earlier using her tail a propeller and holding a large bucket. "We might have a problem."

"That...is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Alexander stated deadpan as Lucy looked up in shock.

"Hey, I'm suppose to be the only flying animal around here!" Happy yelled.

A glob of the jelly dripped from the bucket and fell towards the village. Lucy looked in confusion as the green drop heading for them. "Jelly?"

Before she could react, Natsu tackled her out of the way as the jelly hit. And good timing, as the spot where Lucy was standing had been melting almost instantly.

"I knew that stuff smelled dangerous! It's acid!" The dragon-slayer yelled as he helped his blonde teammate up.

"That rat's got a whole bucket full of that stuff!" The red-skinned demon man panicked along with the rest of the villagers and the pirates.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen. It's been an honor stealing with you." Alexander solemnly said, ready to face the end with dignity (or as much dignity as one can have knowing their death will be caused by a giant flying rat in a maid costume dumping acidic jelly on them).

"Same to you, Captain." A quivering Oswell said as the rest of the crew nodded.

"How are we supposed to protect ourselves from acid jelly?!" Lucy panicked.

Natsu looked up at the rat and started to run. "Alyssa, get everyone to the center of the village!"

The orange-haired wizard nodded as she started using her magically-enhanced speed to gather the demonic villagers, her teammates and the pirates into the center.

"I'm not leaving Bobo's gravestone!" Moka cried out, only for Alyssa to drag him to the center.

"Ready to fly, Happy?"

"Aye!" The winged cat grabbed his adoptive father and flew the two up into the air as Angelica dumped all of the acidic jelly down towards them. Happy tossed Natsu up as fire started flowing around the dragon-slayer.

"No holding back!" Natsu yelled as his fire burst and became his Azure Flames. He channeled the now blue fire in both of his hands as a massive magic circle appeared behind him. " _The flames of my left hand and the flames of my right! Put the two together..._ " He slammed his hands together, combining the fires into a massive blue fireball that he held over his head. " _And this is what you get! FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!_ "

With a roar, he tossed the massive fireball upward and hit the massive glob. The resulting explosion caused the acid to disperse everywhere except the village center. All around them, the villagers watched as their homes were melting into nothing by the raining goop.

After the raining had stopped, the group saw that the spot they were standing on had become a pillar standing in middle of a crater that used to be the village. As everyone looked around with sadness as Moka saw that Bobo's grave was still somehow standing. However, his relief was quickly shattered as the Cold Emperor's posse started walking towards them, Yuka kicking over the grave as they passed it.

"What a shame." Cherry said as the four stopped near the massive group. "We were hoping to give you a quick death. But now there has to be bloodshed."

"Fifty villagers, three wizards and thirty pirates." Yuka stated. "Shouldn't take that long."

"I hope you're wrong." Claudia said as she turned back and placed Bobo's gravestone back in place, surprising the group. She turned and held out her hammer. "Someone better put up a good fight."

Natsu, Alyssa, Happy and Lucy stood defiantly at the four opposing wizards. "Check again, because there's four wizards here!" Happy exclaimed.

"Everyone, get back and take our friend! We'll handle this!" Alyssa ordered. The demonic villagers did just that and carried the unconscious Zeke with them.

"Hey, don't leave us!" Oswell yelled at the retreating villagers as Alexander watched the two opposing wizards with interest.

"Our orders are to kill everyone. Angelica, get them!" Cherry stated as she jumped on the flying rat.

"No way!" Lucy yelled as she jumped on one of Angelica's feet as the flying rat flew past Morningstar.

"Lucy, what are you doing?!" Natsu yelled.

"Leave the villagers alone!" Lucy exclaimed as she punched the rat's foot, having no effect. "They didn't do anything to you!"

"What is she up to?" Cherry asked in confusion. Seeing that her punches weren't working, Lucy decided to try a more unusual tactic and started tickling the rat's feet. "That won't work you know." The pink-haired wizard said until she looked up and saw Angelia twitching and starting to laugh. "No, Angelica! Keep spinning your tail!" But the tickling as too much and the giant rat started to fall.

"I did it!" Lucy exclaimed, happy for about two seconds until she realized that they were descending towards a deep forest area. "WHY DID I DO THAT?!"

"Lucy!" Alyssa yelled as the massive creature landed miles away from the destroyed village. But before she could run after her friend, she was stopped by a massive shockwave and turned, seeing Claudia lifting her hammer from the ground.

"Instead of worrying about your friend, worry about yourselves!" The silver-haired mercenary said.

"I'll save ya, Miss Lucy!" Taurus yelled as he ran past the group and into the forest, no one but Alexander noticing the bull fading out for a nanosecond.

"I'll go check on her." Happy said worryingly as he summoned his wings and flew off.

"Okay, buddy. We got this." Natsu said as he ignited his fist with orange fire.

"So your fire changes color? How odd." Yuka stated as he started channeling his magic through his hands. As the two groups were about to fight, Alexander had finished untying himself and stood.

"Oswell, I want you to help the Fairy Tails." The one-eyed pirate ordered as he untied his first mate. "I'm gonna go help the blonde."

"But captain..."

"That's a direct order." The blue-haired man said, being surprising serious for once. "By the time Taurus reaches her, his time'll be up."

Oswell looked at the younger pirate in surprise before nodding. "I understand. Good luck." The one-eyed pirate nodded back and started running towards the forest. Back with the five opposing wizards, Alyssa decided to draw first blood as she unleashed a Twin Twister spell, making the three enemies dodge as she and Natsu blasted into the middle of them. He quickly fired a Roar spell at Yuku, only for the robe-wearing wizard to block the fire attack with a magical wave.

" _Hammer Wave!_ " Claudia yelled as she launched a wave of energy at the couple, making Natsu and Alyssa dodge the blast as Toby charged at the dragon-slayer with his paralysing claws extended. However...

" _Lightning Wall!_ " A wall of blue lightning appeared between Natsu and Toby, slightly harming the dog-boy before he quickly jumped back. The five looked and saw Oswell walking towards them.

"There's a lot of things I can tolerate. Mindless bloodshed is not one of them." The dirty blonde stated as she glared at the three evil wizards, revealing a green eye with lightning swirling in the pupil. "Fairy Tails, I propose a temporary alliance against these savages."

"And just who the hell are you?!" Toby asked, pissed at being electrocuted.

"I am Marianne Oswell, Second-In-Command of the Star Liberators. I don't appreciate you trying to melt us." The older woman said as she stopped by Natsu and Alyssa. "So, fairies. Do you accept?"

The couple looked at each other before turning and nodding. "Sounds good to me." Natsu said with a grin.

"But if you double-cross us, I'll slam you against the rocks at Mach 3." Alyssa warned her.

"Sounds fair." Marianne replied as she started channeling blue lightning in her hands. She held her hands towards Yuka on her right and Toby & Claudia on her left. " _Lightning Gemini!_ "

She unleashed twin bolts at the three, Yuka blocking the attack with another Magic Wave and his comrades evading.

" _Hammer Break!_ " Claudia yelled, creating another shockwave that made their enemies jump.

"Natsu! Remember the plan!" Alyssa exclaimed as she jumped over another shockwave.

"Got it!" The salmon-haired wizard responded as he ran towards Yuka, evading blue energy waves as he charged.

"Go ahead and try." Yuka taunted as he erected another Wave Barrier. "My Anti-Magic will stop you in your tracks!"

Natsu smirked as he charged, punching his hand through the barrier. "Looks like magic is only thing your barrier stops." However, his smirk vanished as the backlash from the wave started tearing his arm from the inside, making the dragon-slayer grit his teeth in pain.

"You shoved your arm into a magical vortex. Not the brightest move." The Wave wizard taunted, only to be shocked as Natsu shoved his upper torso through the barrier, gritting his teeth until he started drawing blood.

"He's crazy, Yuka! Be careful!" Toby exclaimed as he dodged some lightning bolts from Marianne.

The aforementioned wizard regained his composure as he looked at the gritting Natsu. "Even if you get your entire body through the barrier, you'll be torn apart before you can reach me."

But instead of being detoured, Natsu just gave a smirk that only a dragon-slayer can make. "Got ya!" He yelled, confusing Yuka he saw fire blasting from his opponent's right elbow, pushing his arm like a rocket.

"OH SHI..." And with a flame-propelled punch, Natsu socked the wave wizard into the air and he landed head-first into the ground, knocked out of the fight.

"He took out Yuka with one hit." Claudia stated. She distraction gave Alyssa the chance to close in from behind.

" _Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!_ " The orange-haired wizard punched a barrage of punches in less than thirty seconds, pushing the hammer wizard back a bit before she turned and swung her hammer down, Alyssa jumping away as the ground was shattered.

" _Hammer Wave!_ " Alyssa kneeled to evade another attack as she vibrated her hands over her head.

" _Speed Queen: Vibration Break!_ " The amazonian woman slammed her fists on the ground, creating a shockwave that launched towards Claudia, making the mercenary jump. With speed only she could conjure, Alyssa blasted towards the airborne hammer wizard.

" _Speed Queen: Momentum Punch!_ " Alyssa yelled as socked her silver-haired opponent in the gut, blasting her into a crater wall. At first, the Fairy Tail wizard thought she had won, but Claudia staggered back up and held her hammer towards Alyssa.

"That all you got?"

Alyssa then noticed her hands were hurting more than usual from her punches. She then noticed that her opponent's clothing had a bit of a sheen to them despite all the fighting. This made her realize that the black clothing was enhanced to protect their wearer.

Seeing his girlfriend was having difficulty, Natsu sucked in some air. " _Fire Dragon Roar!_ " However, Claudia simply turned her hammer around, revealing a multi-colored symbol that was hit by the fire. The flames were absorbed into the hammer as the mercenary reared it back.

" _Hammer Feedback!_ " Claudia yelled as she slammed the hammer down, unleashing a wave of fire that hit the Natsu and Alyssa as Marianne put up a Lightning Wall at the last second.

"I've seen something like that before." Natsu stated, unaffected by the fire and remembering his encounter with the Vanish Brothers. One of them had used a similar trick.

"Like it?" Claudia said as she held her weapon over her head. "Elemental magic is one of the most popular types of magic out there, so this seal lets my hammer absorb and redirect it right back you."

"Damn." Alyssa grunted, using her magic to speed up her body's healing and getting rid of the burns. "That wasn't in the files." She then stood up and and started channeling the last of her magic for one final attack. "Plan B then."

With a burst of speed, the orange-haired woman blasted away from the village, making Claudia laugh. "Oh come on! We were getting to the good part!"

"You lose." Natsu said with a smirk, making the silver-haired woman turn to him in confusion. Suddenly, the mercenary heard a loud boom in the distance until they saw an orange blur heading towards from the opposite direction her before she could react.

" _SPEED QUEEN: BOOM!_ " Alyssa yelled as body-checked the hammer wizard with the force of a hundred vulcans punching at once, creating a blast of wind that pushed Marianne and Toby back as Natsu stood his ground with a smile. When the dust cleared, the three saw Claudia moaning in pain while she laid in a new crater with Alyssa standing over her, panting heavily.

"That's...what you get for messing...with..." The orange-haired woman said as she started to stumble until her boyfriend caught her.

'This is not good!' Toby to himself. Thinking quickly, he ran towards Claudia, jumping over Natsu and Alyssa before grabbing his ally and running away as Marianne fired some lightning that missed its mark.

"Drat. The dogboy got away. Oh well, at least we have one captive." The blonde pirate said as she turned to her allies. "You kids are pretty strong. How did you even pull off that last attack?"

"You mean my Boom spell?" Alyssa asked, getting a nod in return. "Well, I just hit my maximum speed, circled around the island and then hit her with the kinetic energy."

"Wait, you circled around the entire island in less than a minute?!" Marianne asked, shocked at the feat the younger woman accomplished.

"She's pretty awesome, right?" Natsu said, making the tall woman blush at the complement. "By the way, where's one-eye?"

"The Captain left to check on your friend after he noticed that bull spirit was starting to fade." The lightning wizard replied.

"Ms. Oswell! Are you okay?" The group turned and saw the rest of the Star Liberators standing on top of the pillar.

"I'm fine." Marianne replied before turning to Natsu and Alyssa. "We should wait for the Captain and your friends to return."

"You really think he can help?" Alyssa asked, only to be answered by Marianne smiling.

In a dense part of the forest, Lucy groaned as she got back. She remembered jumping off the rat before it hit the ground, rolling as she landed.

"Look at what you've done." Lucy turned and saw Cherry standing on top of a nearby hill with tears running down her face and the rat unconscious nearby. "The Cold Emperor asked to complete this task! Now he'll never trust me again! He won't love me anymore!"

'There she goes with that weird love thing again.' Lucy commented in her head as she stood up.

"And look what you did to poor Angelica! I'll make you pay!" The pink-haired woman yelled as she used her magic to bring a nearby tree to life. "CRUSH HER,  _TREE GOLEM_!"

Lucy narrowly avoid getting smashed by the now-moving tree's branch arm as she pulled out her whip, ready to fight. But before she could do anything, she heard a familiar moo coming from the distance as Taurus charged at the tree and sliced it in half.

"Are you alright, Miss Lucy?" Taurus asked as he caught his breath.

"Ya, just a little sore." The blonde replied before remembering the foe she was up against. "Taurus, you need to go back through the gate, now!"

"What?"

"Just trust me." Lucy said. Taurus nodded as his body started to fade into light, signifying him leaving this world.

"So you're a Celestial Wizard." Cherry said with a smirk. "As I recall, your kind don't like my magic."

"You mean Marionette Attack Magic." Lucy said, surprising the pink-haired wizard. "That's right, I know your game missy. You control any living being as long as its not human, even Celestial Spirits."

"Well, you're certainly smarter than you look." Cherry said as she conjured up a pink magic circle in front of her hands. The rocks underneath her started to shift and combine into a large rock creature, shocking Lucy as Cherry landed on top of creature's head. "But without your spirits, you're nothing against my  _Rock Doggy_."

"I can't speak for her..." The two women turned and saw Alexander with his weapons out. "But I think I can manage." He pulled the trigger on his firearm, the Rock Doggy blocking the shots with its arm to protect its master.

"Alexander? What're you doing here?" Lucy asked, confused at why the man she was fighting an hour ago was now saving her.

"This bitch tried to dump acid on me and my crew. This is payback." The pirate said as he moved towards his fellow celestial wizard, firing energy shots at the creature as he walked.

"How dare you harm my Doggy! Get him!" Cherry ordered as she had the living stone leap at her enemies, the two dodging the massive beast. Alexander quickly got back up and started firing at Cherry again, but the Rock Doggy just blocked the shots like before.

"I don't suppose you have a Golden Spirit that can resist mind control?" The blue-haired pirate asked, only to get a nod no. "Shame."

"Why don't you two just give up? A whip and bullets can't beat my Rock Doggy." Cherry stated.

"We'll see about that!" Alexander said as he pulled another red key from his jacket. This key had bird-claw shaped teeth and a silhouette of a rooster on the end.

"Wait, she can control spirits!" Lucy warned.

"You really are rookie, aren't you?" The one-eyed pirate responded, confused Lucy as he closed his eye and held the key out to his right as he sheathed his sword. " _Gongji, please lend me your power._ " To Lucy's astonishment, a phantom image of a lanky man in a red dapper suit, red & green eyes and hair styled in a mohawk-like fashion appeared next to Alexander and nodded before disappearing. The pirate opened his eye as a gray cylinder with a keyhole popped out of the flintlock's handle. He inserted the red key, turned it, and closed it. A blue magic circle appeared underneath him as he pointed his firearm at Cherry and the Rock Doggy.

"I don't know what you're doing, but it won't work!" The pink-haired wizard yelled as the creature charged at the blue-haired pirate. Alexander's only response was to give a cocky smile as green and red energy started to gather at the end of the barrel.

" _FINAL WAVE!_ " He pulled the trigger, firing a massive green & red bullet-shaped blast that hit the Rock Doggy. The blast hit the creature, creating a massive explosion. Rocks from the creature flew everywhere as Cherry hit the ground, the force of the blast knocking her out. As Alexander pulled the key out of his flintlock and put it back in his jacket, Lucy looked in astonishment at what had just occurred.

"W-What was that?" Lucy asked.

"That was the full power of a Celestial Arm." Alexander said as he slid his flintlock back into its holster and turned towards Lucy. "That was pretty ballsy jumping on the rat."

"Well, I couldn't just let them hurt the villagers." The blonde wizard replied. 'Although I wish I came up with a better plan than tickling it.'

"Lucy!" The two turned and saw Happy flying towards them. "Are you okay?" He then saw Alexander and quickly ran in front of Lucy, hissing at the pirate.

"It's okay, Happy. Alexander helped me." Lucy said, calming down the cat before turning back to aforementioned pirate. "So, are we good? No more trying to hurt the villagers?"

"I was never going to hurt the villagers." The blue-haired celestial wizard replied, surprising the two. "I was just gonna have my men blow up a house or two. But considering that these jokers melted the whole village, I kind of lost that bargaining chip. And besides, I want a crack at that Cold Emperor guy you mentioned." He looked up as the sun started to rise in the distance. "No one messes with Alexander Marvell and his crew."

As the pirate started to walk back, Lucy looked in amazement, still comprehending how he managed to defeat a golem without even summoning a spirit or the fact that there's zodiac keys besides the Gold & Silver ones. 'Looks like I still have a lot to learn about my own magic.'

_To be continued..._

(We see chibi versions of Lucy & Happy in the forest.)

Lucy: Hey, Happy. Didn't you leave before Alexander?

Happy: Aye!

Lucy: But then, how come he made it to me before you did.

(Happy starts to sweat in embarrassment.)

Happy: Well, all of the trees look so similar, so I got lost for a bit.

Lucy (deadpan): That's pretty lame.

Happy: Next Time: Assault on the Moon Temple! Aye Sir!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: Hey guys! I've been waiting to write this chapter even since the idea of Celestial Arms popped into my brain. Twenty nerd points if you can guess the inspiration for that. And yes, Alexander's last name being Marvell is no coincidence, but we'll save that for another arc. Also, the Red Zodiac Keys are based off the Chinese Zodiac.
> 
> Please remember to read & review! See ya next time!


	9. Assault on the Moon Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note 1: I don't anything expect my original OCs and magic.

_"You don't need him! You've already got me to take the place of your daughter!"_

_"Lyon. Let's get something straight. I've never once thought of you as a replacement for my daughter. You are who you are. You're my adorable student."_

_"This is all your fault!"_

_"ICED SHELL!"_

The Cold Emperor awoke with sweat running down his brow. He was sitting in his throne, with no one around him. He swiped the sweat from his face as he stared down, knowing that the Iced Shell and Deliora inside it was underneath him. "It'll all be over by tonight." He said to himself, his hands shaking a bit.

In another part of the island, Zeke groaned as he woke up in an unfamiliar the tent. He sat up and saw that his torso was bandaged up and decided to get up and leave. The brunette looked around and saw that it was now early in the morning and the village people were walking around as normal people. He also saw people dressed like sailors walking around.

"What did I miss?" He asked himself as an island girl passed him. "Excuse me, have you seen my friends?"

"Yes. They're in the big tent with Mr. Marvell and Ms. Oswell."

'Who're Marvell and Oswell?' Zeke thought to himself as he approached the big tent and entered, seeing Natsu, Alyssa, Lucy, Happy and two people he didn't recognize. One of them with one eye and drowning down a bottle of booze. The other just rubbing her brow as she watched.

"Okay, I think some explanations are in order." The archer said, getting everyone's attention.

_**One Long Explanation Later (which involved explaining that their current location was a storage location that the citizens of Galuna Island were using as living quarters now and that they had Yuka & Cherry locked up and unconscious in another part.)** _

"So...Alexander. What's with the booze?" The archer asked.

"Well, let's see; It took me and my crew four days to get here, I got knocked out by a coconut, almost got disintegrated by a flying rat, and just found out that the key I traveled for is for the wrong freaking set!" The blue-haired pirate said.

"But you're a Celestial Wizard. Shouldn't you be able to use a gate key regardless of color?" Zeke asked. "Regardless, it seems like a bit of an overreaction for a key."

"I'm not looking for keys just to collect them." Alexander stated as he put down the bottle. "The Miracle won't work without the entire set."

"Miracle?" Happy asked. The rest of Team Morningstar looked in confusion aside from Lucy, who looked in shock.

"But that's just a rumor." The blonde stated.

"What's the Miracle, Lucy?" Alyssa asked.

"Well, legends say that when all of the Zodiac keys are gathered in one place, a Miracle based on the gatherer's true desire will appear. But no Celestial Wizard's actually managed to gather all twelve keys in their lifetime." The blonde explained.

"So it's like getting a free wish." Natsu reasoned before turning towards the one-eyed captain. "So why do you want the Miracle?"

Alexander sighed as Marianne looked in concern. He pulled out a silver necklace from his jacket and opened it. Inside of the necklace was a photo of a little boy and an even younger girl with the same shade of blue hair and smiles on their faces.

"Is that you?" Happy asked, getting a nod from the pirate. "Who's the girl?"

"That's Wendy. She is...was my little sister." Alexander said with somber expression. The group realized his tone and felt a heavy tension in the air. "She's what my Miracle would be."

Feeling the somber atmosphere, Zeke decided to cough to get everyone's attention again. "Not to sound harsh, but we can exchange back stories when the Cold Emperor's down for the count?"

"Right." Alexander replied as he closed the locket and put in back under his shirt.

"Okay, since Deliora wasn't awakened last night, we'll need to stop them before they start the Moon Drip ceremony again." He turned towards the two pirates. "Alexander, you want to get back at the Cold Emperor?"

The blue-haired pirate grinned as held out his hand. "Damn straight." He replied as the two Holder-Type wizards shook hands.

"Plan T?" Natsu said with a grin.

"Plan T." Zeke nodded back.

"What's Plan T?" Marianne asked, Lucy thinking the same thing.

"Take 'em by storm!" Alyssa and Happy replied as the group started to formulate their friend.

_**And then...** _

In another part of the island, the Cold Emperor was sitting in his throne as he addressed a kneeling Claudia and Toby. "So Cherry and Yuka have failed."

"That's correct." The Hammer Wizard answered. The Ice Wizard sighed.

"In our defense, we had no idea that one of the pirates knew Lightning Magic." Toby stated.

"Sounds like excuses to me." The three turned and saw a shorter, elderly man with long faded green hair behind a red tribal mask and wearing a brown tribal robes. "While I don't expect much from Toby, I definitely expected more from the famed Iron Hammer."

The two aforementioned wizards scowled at the older man as the Cold Emperor looked at the new arrival.

"Zalty, are the preparations complete for tonight?" He asked as the green-haired man kneeled.

"The ceremony is ready, my Cold Emperor. Deliora should be thawed out by tonight."

"Excellent." The cape-clad wizard replied.

"My Emperor!" The group turned and saw one of the chanters run into the room. "We've spotted a large group heading for the temple!"

"Who is it?"

"We believe it's the pirates from the village. And from the looks of it, the Fairy Tail wizards are marching with them."

Zalty gave a sinister grin. "Sounds like they want a fight."

The Cold Emperor contemplated for a brief moment before addressing his underling. "Intercept them immediately. Claudia, you go with them"

The robed underling and silver-haired mercenary nodded as they left the room.

"Sir, shouldn't we all go and take them out in one strike?" Toby asked.

"The ceremony needs at least one of us for it to work. And I have a feeling this might be a trick."

In another part of the jungle, a group of 30+ people were marching forward. Leading the group was Alexander, Zeke (who had some bandages wrapped around his left arm and a patch on his face), Lucy, Marianne and Happy.

"You sure this is going to work?" Alexander asked the brunette archer.

"Pretty sure." Zeke replied.

"How sure is pretty sure?" Lucy asked.

"73%." The archer replied, making the blonde Celestial Wizard sweat-drop. However, that conversation was tabled when Happy noticed a round object heading towards them.

"Look out!" The blue cat exclaimed, the wizards and pirates dodging as the object hit the ground, causing an explosion. Zeke quickly got his footing back and looked ahead, seeing a massive group of robed figures heading towards them with Claudia leading them.

"We got company!" Zeke exclaimed, summoning his bow with a slight groan. "And the Iron Hammer's with them."

"Liberators, prepare for battle!" Alexander yelled as took out one of his red keys. This key had a monkey's paw as the teeth and a symbol of a fist on the end. " _Open, Gate of the Monkey - Houzi!_ " From the gate emerged a monkey with brown fur, blue monk-like clothing, and a dark red bo staff on his back, landing with a howl.

"About time you called, Alex me boy." The monkey spirit said with an accent. "I got so bored I started to eat my own ticks."

"Isn't that what monkeys normally do?" Happy asked, making the monkey spirit look down in shock.

"By the Celestial King! A talking cat!" Houzi exclaimed. "The felines are taking over!"

The pirates slapped their faces as Zeke, Lucy and Happy sweat-dropped at the spirit's odd behavior. "Houzi, that's not even close to what's happening." Alexander said as he pointed towards the approaching enemies.

"Oh, demon worshipers." The monkey said nonchalantly as he twirled his bo staff and got into his battle stance. "In that case, let's smack some cultist ass!"

"Close enough." Alexander said as he pulled out his Celestial Arms (his saber and flintlock) as the rest of the crew pulled out their weapons. Marianne channeled her lightning magic through her hands. Zeke conjured up energy for his magic arrows. Happy took out two Lacrima bombs from his backpack and Lucy cracked her whip. "Charge!"

"Rip them apart!" Claudia yelled as she brought down her hammer, creating a shockwave that launched towards her enemies.

"No ya don't!" Houzi yelled as smacked his staff on the ground, creating another shockwave, the two channeling each other out as the two sides started to clash. Lightning, energy blasts, arrows, hammer attacks, and bombs started flying as the battle began.

"Get out of my way, ya dumb monkey!" The Hammer wizard exclaimed as she clashed with the monkey spirit.

"You think you stand a chance against the mighty Houzi?!" The spirit yelled back.

"Oh, I know I can." She said with a grin. "Tell you what; you switch sides and I'll give you a banana."

Surprisingly, an anger tick appeared on his forehead as Houzi pushed the silver-haired woman back. "You idiot! Gorillas eat bamboo, not bananas!"

Claudia just scoffed as she prepared another spell.  _"Hammer Wave!"_  She swung her hammer, creating a wave of energy that the monkey dodged. Alexander used this chance to fire upon the mercenary, but she twirled her weapon for a Hammer Shield spell to block shots. He then charge with his saber, the blade clanging against the hilt that Claudia used to block the strike.

'So far, so good.' Zeke though to himself as he evaded a tossed bomb and fired back with an arrow. 'We got their attention. How Natsu and Alyssa just need to do their part.'

Speaking of the two other Morningstar founders, they had entered the temple through the back entrance.

"Time to cut loose!" Alyssa yelled as she punched a pillar with a super-speed.

"Right behind you!" Natsu replied as he blasted a pillar with a Roar spell. The two continued to move through the right side of the temple, destroying any pillar that they came across. Eventually, the two felt the temple tilt to the right.

"All according to plan." The dragon-slayer stated as he sniffed the air, recognizing a smell coming from above. "The cold guy and the dog boy are above us."

"Well then, let's go say hello." Alyssa said with a smile, Natsu smiling back as the two prepared their spells and aimed upward.

_"Speed Queen: Twin Twister!"_

_"Fire Dragon Roar!"_

The two spells merged, creating a tornado of fire that blasted through the three floors above them, creating a massive hole through each of them. When the spell subsided, the two saw the Cold Emperor, Toby and Zalty looking through the hole.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Ice Wizard asked in anger.

"So the frontal assault was a diversion for Salamander and the Speed Queen to strike." Zalty stated as he looked down the hole. "It appears we have visitors, sir."

"You know, we usually end up breaking stuff by accident." Natsu stated with a chuckle. "It's kind of funny how hard it is when we're trying to do it on purpose."

"What're you two doing here?" The Cold Emperor asked.

"We're knocking over your temple so the Moon Drip can't flow straight down to Deliora." Alyssa stated.

"Insolent fools! Just who do you think you are?!"

"Okay, would someone please explain what's going on, cause I'm lost." Toby said.

"Evidently, these two are the reason the temple is now titled." Zalty replied. "I assume they destroyed the support pillars on one side. Doing so caused the temple to shift in that direction."

"Now we just gotta deal with you!" Natsu yelled as he blasted through the hole, reaching the floor of the three enemy wizards by headbutting the Cold Emperor. However, the figure soon shattered into ice. "He's fake?"

The Cold Emperor jumped from his hiding place and prepared another spell. " _Ice-Make: Eagles!_ " A flock of ice eagles flew towards the still airborne Natsu. However...

" _Speed Queen: Tornado!_ " Alyssa launched herself into the air, catching Natsu and evading the ice birds. The two landed as the Cold Emperor prepared another spell.

" _Ice-Make: Wave!_ " The leader yelled unleashing a wave of ice crystals that headed for Natsu. However, Alyssa made it into the room and vibrated her hands at high speeds.

" _Speed Queen: Vibration Break!_ " She slammed her hands on the floor, creating a shockwave that intercepted and shattered the ice wave. Alyssa smirked at this, thinking back to Zeke's explanation earlier.

_"You were able to shatter the ice covering Natsu, so you should be able to shatter all of the Cold Emperor's Ice Constructs if you vibrate at the right frequency."_

_"Fire Dragon Roar!"_  Natsu yelled as he prepared his next attack. Unfortunately for them, the floor underneath the two Fairy Tail wizards, not noticing that Zalty had his hand extended towards them.

"How very fortunate, Cold Emperor. Luck is on your side." The older man stated.

Said emperor glared at the masked man. "What did you do?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me! Your magic had to have caused that hole in the floor."

"Don't you have ever the watchful eye? Please allow me to explain my actions, sir. You're the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora, so it's imperative that you remain safe until its resurrection."

Hearing this only made the pale wizard scowl. "Are you suggesting that I could fall victim to such poultry magic?" As he said this, ice started to cover the room more and more as the Cold Emperor looked down the hole were his enemies fell. "Leave me. I can take care of this myself. Once I finally defeat the demon, everyone shall worship my name: Cold Emperor Lyon." As he said this, Natsu and Alyssa climbed back through the hole, Lyon glaring at them. "I've worked too hard to let these brats tarnish it."

"As you wish." The older man answered with a smile as he and Toby left the room.

"You know, I just don't get you." Alyssa stated as she stared down her opponent. "Going through all this trouble to fight one demon just so you can boost your ego? That's pretty messed up."

"I must rise up above Ur's legacy. I will not rest until I fulfill my dream!" Lyon exclaimed as he unleashed another barrage of Ice eagles, making the two dodge.

"Do you really think she'd want you to bring all this suffering?" Natsu yelled back, remembering what Zeke told them about the Cold Emperor. "I understand wanting to prove yourself, but this is just asinine!"

Lyon just scowled at the two. "What do you know?!  _Ice-Make: Tiger!_ " He chanted, making a ice tiger manifest behind the two. But before it could strike, Alyssa rushed in and vibrated her fist, shattering the beast with a single punch, shocking the Ice Wizard.

'What kind of speed magic is this? She's shattering my constructs like they were glass.' He thought to himself as Alyssa turned back towards him and rushed towards. Lyon thought quickly as he created a spiky barrier around him. Alyssa barely stopped as she shoulder was grazed by one of the spikes and she stepped back. Seeing this, Natsu sucked in some breath for his next attack.

" _Fire Dragon Roar!_ " The stream of fire shattered the barrier and knocked Lyon back a bit. "I don't know what happened to you in the past, but I do know what you're doing in the present. And it's hurting a lot of innocent people."

"And since you don't seem to realize that..." Alyssa said as she channeled vibration energy in between her hands. "We'll have to some sense into you!  _Speed Queen: Vibration Blast!"_

" _Ice-Make: Double Barrier!_ " Lyon created two pillars of ice, the first was shattered by the blast but the second one managed to barely block. However, this provide a distraction for Alyssa to charge in, only to be forced to evade when her foe created another spiked shield. "Do you really think you stand a chance against me when your S-Class friend didn't!?"

"Exactly." Alyssa said, surprising the Cold Emperor. "Zeke knew he couldn't beat you in another fight, especially with his injures. But the two of us should be able to handle you considering the nature of our magic."

"And I have plenty of experience dealing with Ice wizards." Natsu said with a smirk as he ignited his fist.

"So you think some fire is going melt my ice? It didn't help you last time!" Lyon stated as a magic circle appeared before his hand, causing mist to surround Natsu and start to freeze him over.

"Last time, you took me by surprise." With a powerful roar, the dragon-slayer became engulfed in blue flames, shattering the ice surrounding him. As the Azure flames raged, Lyon's eyes widened as he saw the ice under Natsu's feet start to melt. He scowled and launched a barrage of frost at Natsu, but the salmon-haired wizard was ready.

 _"Fire Dragon Shield!"_  Natsu slammed his hands together, creating a burst of blue fire that melted the ice attack.

"I've had enough." Lyon stated coldly as his magic started flow around him. Before any of them could do anything else, the temple started to shake again.

"What now?" Alyssa said. Outside, the Cold Emperor's forces and the Star Liberators noticed the temple starting to move into its upright position.

"No way!" Lucy exclaimed.

"The temple just untitled itself!" Happy yelled.

"Oh...shit." Zeke said. "The moon's gonna shine on Deliora."

"We still got a few hours until then." Marianne stated, only to be blasted back by a shockwave, courtesy of the Iron Hammer.

"You'll all be dead long before then." Claudia stated with a sadistic grin.

"We'll see about that ya big-titted psychopath!" Houzi exclaimed as he came in for another bo strike that Claudia parried.

Back inside, Natsu was seething that the one thing he meant to break on purpose was now fixed as Zalty entered the room. "Pardon the interruption."

"I should've known." Lyon stated as the older man approached him. "I take it you did this."

"Indeed I did, sir. The moon will be out soon, so I thought I'd take the liberty of straightening the temple for you."

"That weird guy fixed it?" Alyssa asked.

"And after we when to all that trouble to mess it up, too." Natsu stated. "Hey! So what'd you do to fix it, huh?"

The only response the salmon-haired wizard got was Zalty turned towards and laughing. "TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT YOU JERK!"

"Now that everything else is in order, I suppose I should commence the Moon Drip ceremony." The green-haired man said as he ran out of the room.

"I'm gonna go after that weirdo. You got this?" Natsu asked Alyssa, getting a nod and smile in response.

"You bet. Sock that creep for me, would ya?" Natsu nodded and ran out the room to chase down Zalty, leaving the Speed Queen and the Cold Emperor to face each other down.

"You know, the last time one of you Fairy Tail types fought me alone, he ended up bleeding on the ground." Lyon stated.

"Wait a second. Let me just say something." Alyssa stated. "Move aside your ego and ask yourself; What if you can't defeat Deliora?"

Lyon raised his eyebrow as the amazonian woman continued. "Let's say my team fails and you do unthaw him. Are you really so sure you can beat him?"

"Of course I can. I've spent the last ten years training my magic. Honing my skills. I don't think can defeat Deliora. I know I can."

"How? Your master was strong enough to be considered a Wizard Saint and she couldn't defeat it. Are you so egotistical that you think you're as strong a Saint?" The orange-haired woman asked, making Lyon pause for a bit. "Trust me. Deliora is a demon of Zeref. Anything having to do with one of those always ends in tragedy."

"You speak from personal experience. Have you meet one of these demons before?"

Alyssa sighed before she answered. "As a matter of fact, I've met one of the worse of Zeref's demons. The Shadowman."

Hearing this name made Lyon look at the Speed Queen, noticing the sad look in her eyes as she mentioned his name. "You were one of his victims?"

"No, I got lucky. But the rest of my family..." Before Alyssa could go on, before was forced to evade a blast of ice fired from the pale wizard.

"Do you really think sharing your tragedy will deter me?! While I am sorry for your loss, I'm not changing my course!" The speed wizard grunted as she tried charging with another burst of speed, but just like before, Lyon created another spiked barrier that made her stop. "If anything, you should happy that I'm killing one of Zeref's demons!  _Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!_ "

Alyssa jumped back to avoid the dragon as it smashed against the icy floor. 'This is getting me nowhere! Looks like I have to use that."

Landing on her feet, she stood up with her head titled down, hiding her eyes. "Funny thing is, I probably would've agreed with you years ago." She started thinking back to when she was wandering the woods, crying and alone. "After he took everything from me, I did vow to kill the Shadowman. That vow of vengeance was the only thing that keep me going. I wanted to trust no one and saw evil in everyone. But then..." She remembered Master Makarov coming across her in the woods, offering her his hand as a show of kindness. "I made my way to Fairy Tail. And suddenly my dark world became brighter." Thoughts of a younger Natsu's kind smile, Zeke chuckling, a silver-haired girl smiling and another brown-haired boy's grin came to her mind. "They gave me hope when I needed it the most." She remembered her big confrontation with Mirajane. "They showed me that there was more in my future than just revenge." Her final thought was her first kiss with Natsu. "And they reminded me about the love I'd thought I lost."

(Music Que - Ranbu Escalation)

She lifted her head, revealing purple eyes with steel-like determination that stared into Lyon's very soul. "That's the difference between us. You've let the past control you! Me, I keep running towards the future!" As she said this, a purple magic circle appeared under her feet, the wind of the cascading energy making her ponytail flow. "And right now, you're nothing but a big obstacle in my way!  _Speed Queen: Overclock!_ " Alyssa let out a yell as two magic circles appeared hovering over her shoulders. As she continued to yell, she skin started turning red, the wind of her energy making pushing Lyon back a smidge.

'What...what is this?!' Lyon thought to himself as his opponent's skin became crimson red. 'This...this is no ordinary speed magic!'

When she finished her charging, Alyssa pushed her left foot back and blasted ahead, socking Lyon in the face before he had a chance to create another spiked barrier. Quickly recovering, the Cold Emperor channeled magic in both of his hands. " _Ice-Make: Eagles! Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!_ " The ice creatures charged at the speed wizard but she disappeared in flash. A second later, the tiger and eagles shattered as she reappeared.

"Don't think some trick will stop me!" Lyon yelled as ten magic circles appeared before him. " _Ice-Make: STAMPEDE!_ " From the circles came several Tigers, birds and Dragons made of ice. Alyssa vanished again and shattered all of the creatures in less than three seconds. Staring in shock, Lyon quickly wrapped himself in another spiked barrier and reinforced with the triple the spikes with good measure. Alyssa charged again, but this time charged ahead with a vibrating punch so fast that she managed to break through the barrier and punch Lyon out of it and towards the temple wall. Before he had a chance to retaliate, the orange-haired wizard appeared in front of him with her fist reared back.

" _SPEED QUEEN: MILLION-STRIKE PUNCH!_ " And indeed, Alyssa struck the Cold Emperor 999,999 times in less than minute, rearing her right fist back for the final punch, vibrational energy covering her arm as she swung. The impact from the hit, caused a blast that destroyed the temple wall behind Lyon. After the smoke had cleared, the amazonian wizard stepped back from her opponent has he fell face first onto the floor, knocked out by the million super-fast punches. Alyssa herself started to pant as the magic circles vanished from beside her shoulders and her skin changed back to its normal color.

(Music End)

"Don't...mess with the queen." Alyssa said as she started to fell a little woozy and sat down, breathing heavily as she did. 'Looks like forty seconds is still my upper limit for that spell.' She groaned a bit as she felt the strain in her muscles and the magic energy inside her completely drained. 'At least I can stay conscious afterwards. Natsu, Zeke. The rest is up to you guys.'

Speaking of Zeke, he stood facing down Claudia alongside Lucy, Alexander, Happy and Marianne, all of them having received damage from the battle. All around them were unconscious chanters and pirates laid across the jungle floor. Houzi had vanished after Claudia stuck him with a powerful swing. "Just give up! You're outnumbered and probably running low on magic!"

In response, the silver-haired mercenary just scowled as she gripped her hammer tighter. "Screw you! I still have one trick up my sleeve!" The Hammer wizard spun her weapon over her head, channeling a massive amount of magical energy. "I'll blow you all away!  _Hammer Explosion!_ " Claudia slammed her hammer into the ground and soon streaks of light started shining from below.

"Hit the deck!" Happy yelled as the ground underneath them exploded, blasting the Fairy Tail wizards into the air. As they were airborne, Claudia assumed that she had won. Until she saw an upside down Zeke aiming a magic arrow at her.

'Well, at least I had fun.' Claudia thought to herself before she was knocked back by the magically created arrow. Oddly enough, as she fell back on the ground, so did everyone else.

"Okay, not fun." Lucy woozily stated. Suddenly, she heard a nearby chuckle and saw Alexander lying his back and laughing.

"You Fairy Tails got some real spunk." The blue-haired pirate said. "This was the most fun I've ever had in battle."

"This was fun for you?!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Hehe. You see what happens at Happy Hour back at the guild." Zeke stated as he sat up. However, the jovial mood was ruined when the brunette archer saw a familiar series of magic circles above the temple and a purple celestial body. "Oh no! The Moon's out!"

"Really?!" Lucy asked.

"We must've been fighting longer than we thought!" Happy stated.

"There's still time for us to stop the ceremony!" Marianne stated.

"She's right! Let's go!" Zeke ordered, the others nodding as the five turned towards the temple.

"No wait!" The group turned to see an elderly woman getting back up with her face revealed, showing a beaded headpiece that matched the man standing next to him. "We won't let you interfere...with the Cold Emperor."

"Those headpieces. You guys are from Brago." The archer stated. Suddenly, the gears clicked in Zeke's head as he remembered one of the towns that was destroyed during Deliora's rampage in the North. "So that's how that icy prick got so many people to follow him. You want revenge on Deliora." The group's attention was suddenly drawn by a chuckling Claudia.

"Finally figured it out." The downed mercenary said. "But it's too late."

In another part of the temple, Zalty was standing in front of the frozen Deliora with a grin on his face. "Hehehe. At long last."

"THERE YOU ARE!" Zalty turned and saw Natsu leaped towards him, his fist covered in blue fire. "I'll burn that grin off your face!"

However, the older man jumped away as the dragon-slayer's fist came down and jumped onto a higher rock. "Must've taken you a while to come up with that one. By the way, how did you manage to find me?"

"I tracked your scent. For some reason, you totally reek of lady's perfume." The Salamander answered, earning a chuckle out of the masked man.

"I would love to stay and chat, but I've got more important things to do right now. Like reviving Deliora."

"Heh. Just forget about that. It's not gonna happen, okay."

"Really. And why is that pretell?"

Natsu just gave his signature smirk. "'Cause Alyssa's gonna kick your bosses' ass, my friends are going to kick that hammer lady's ass, and any minute now, I'm gonna kick your ass! Then this'll all be over."

Zalty just smirked and turned towards Deliora. "We'll just have to see about that." Natsu his head in the same direction and saw the familiar sight of Moon Drip cascading down on the Iced Shell.

"Moon light? But who...THE DOG BOY!" Natsu yelled, suddenly remembering the missing paralysis wizard.

"That's right. And while only having one person means the moon drip isn't terribly powerful right now, we've already gathered plenty of moonlight. We need to give it a little nudge to finish the job." As Zalty said this, a large chunk of the ice instantly melted away, freaking Natsu out.

"Crap! I gotta stop that guy!" Natsu yelled as he tried to run out of the cavern. However, Zalty pointed upward and a portion of the cave roof fell in front of the dragon-slayer, knocking him back.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere. Looks like chasing after me was a mistake, Salamander. Better luck next time, eh?" In response to that taunt, Natsu once again leaped at Zalty with an Iron Fist and once again the older man jumped out of the way. "Are you sure you want to do that? Using your fire magic at a time like this might make the ice sealing Deliora melt faster."

Natsu just scowled as he swung with a flaming kick that Zalty also dodged. "If it could be melted by fire magic, then you wouldn't have gone to all this trouble. Bluff all you want, but either my friends will stop the moon drip or I'll do it after I'm done with you and it's game over."

Hearing this made the masked man chuckle again. "I must say I took your for a fool. But when push comes to shove, it seems your surprisingly clever Salamander." As he said this, the cavern and the rest of the temple started to shake. Back in the throne room, Alyssa felt the vibrations too.

"That doesn't sound good." As she started to get up, a terrible shriek was heard all over the island. Outside, Zeke and the others covered their ears as they climbed up the temple wall. Inside of the cavern, Natsu was in agony as his advanced hearing increased the level of sound he heard.

"Yes, it's free!" Zalty cheered as as the ice started to crack and Deliora's eyes glowed red. With another inhuman roar, the demon of destruction's upper torso broke through.

"Deliora." Lyon groaned as he was awakened by the sound. Even the villagers heard the demon's roar as the sounds were powerful enough to create a gale of wind. On top of the temple, Toby keep chanting the words for the ceremony until an energy arrow grazed his cheek, freaking him out as he turned and saw Zeke, Lucy, Happy, Alexander and Marianne glaring at him.

"The next one's gonna go through your colon if you don't stop this ceremony right now!" Zeke stated as conjured up another arrow.

"E-E-Even if I wanted to it's too late." The shivering dog boy said as they heard another demonic howl. "Deliora's gonna be free in a few minutes regardless."

Back in the cavern, Natsu grit his teeth as he started down the massive creature. 'SHIT! I've wasted too much time on this creep! I have to finish it now!' However, a flying crystal ball seemingly came out of nowhere as it slammed into his head. He quickly got back up and saw the ball flying around as Zalty moved his hand.

"Go ahead and do your worst Salamander." Zalty said as he made the ball attack his opponent again.

"Why you!" Natsu exclaimed as he lit his fist in blue fire and smashed the crystal. But with a wave of Zalty's hand, the crystal reconstructed itself like nothing had happened and slammed into Natsu gut. "But I broke it, right?"

"I have the ability to control an objects time, meaning I can take the crystal back in time to before it was broken." The green-haired man said as the crystal floating back towards him.

"What kind of magic gives you that power?" The dragon-slayer asked as he got his second wind.

"I practice one of the lost magics called the Arc of Time." Zalty answered. "It's extremely rare and quite powerful. Would like to see what happens when I throw this crystal ball into the future?"

Faster than he could react, Natsu was pelted by the ball at speeds that even rivaled Alyssa's. He quickly reacted and shattered the crystal, only for it to be fixed again and slam into the back of his head, making him cough a little blood.

"Your fire won't help you!" The Time Wizard taunted as the crystal floated around.

"Don't underestimate me!" Natsu yelled as the azure flames consumed his body again. "I've had enough of you and your buddies f*^king things up for the people of this island! It's time I put a stop to this!"

Even as he felt the air getting warmer, Zalty just raised his arm and conjured a white magic circle. "You don't seriously believe you can stop my Arc of Time with your puny flames, do you?" Accelerating the decay of the ceiling, Zalty caused several rocks to start falling towards Natsu. However, the dragon-slayer sucked in his breath and aimed upward.

" _Fire Dragon Roar!_ " The azure breath attack completely disintegrated the falling rubble. "I don't give a shit about your stupid magic! I just want you off this island!" The flames around Natsu started to compress into him even as the crystal sphere keep slamming into him. " _FIRE DRAGON..._ " A large magic circle appeared underneath Natsu as the air become more and more heated. " _SUPERNOVA!_ " As soon he said this, a massive burst of azure flames exploded from his body, creating a sphere of fire that destroyed the crystal, the surrounding rocks and consumed the surprised Zalty. Soon, the sphere faded, revealing a triumphant Natsu standing in the water that covered the cavern floor. He looked at the now singed and unconscious Zalty with a smirk. "I might not be able to control time, but I did see the future."

However, the celebration was short lived as Deliora released another inhuman roar, creating a pillar of green energy that blasted through the roof of the temple.

"Told ya!" Toby yelled as the five heroes watched in horror.

"No way." Lucy said in fear. In another part of the temple, Alyssa groaned as she walked towards the cavern.

"Have to...make it." The amazon groaned, still feeling the backlash of her Overclock spell. She eventually reached the cavern and saw the freed demon roaring.

"Sorry." She turned and saw Natsu staring up at the demon with regret. "I wasted too much time! But it looks we have to take that thing down!"

"You...you've doomed us all." The two fairy tail wizards turned and saw Lyon crawling towards them, an insane look in his eyes. "I...I was the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora. By defeating me, you've killed us all!"

As the two looked at the crawling ice wizard, no one seemed to notice a glow emanating from the water surrounding Deliora.

"N-N-Now's my chance! I'll finally surpass Ur!" Lyon yelled as struggled to get back up. However, he was socked by Alyssa.

"Will you stop with this insane ego trip already?!" The orange-haired woman yelled. "You've caused enough misery as it is!" Alyssa then turned to her boyfriend. "Natsu, I'm still drained from my last fight. Do you think you can hold Deliora off until the others get here?"

The salmon-haired wizard stared down the screeching demon, shaking a bit as he ignited his fist again. "I'll have to try." With a roar from both the Deliora and Natsu, the Salamander charged as the demon drew its fist back. " _Fire Dragon Iron Fist!_ " The two opposing forces clashed, demonic energy battling against azure fire. "I'm not giving up 'till the bitter end!" The dragon-slayer exclaimed as he started pouring nearly all of his remaining magical energy to increased to power of his fist. And to everyone's shock, Deliora's fist started to crack under the pressure until it shattered. Soon, cracks started to appear all around the demon and it started to crumble.

"What the..." Natsu said in confusion, Alyssa and Lyon just as confused as he was.

"N-No way." Lyon said in disbelief. "T-T-That can't be!"

Finally, the last of Deliora crumbled to pieces, landing in the water and causing it rise.

"Deliora...was already dead."

"Are you guys seeing this?" Happy asked as the group looked down and saw massive amounts of water flowing out of the temple.

"For ten years, Ur has gradually depleted the demon's lifeforce. And what we just saw..." Lyon said as tears started running down his face. "Was nothing more than it's last dying breath." He gripped his hands in angry and sadness. "My dream is dead. There's no hope now! I will never surpass Ur!"

Alyssa whistled after hearing this. "Looks like the rumors about Ur weren't exaggerated."

"Ya. I guess this really was her win." Natsu stated as he looked at the remains of Deliora. However, a new scent suddenly hit his nose and he started looking around until he saw something floating in the water. "Alyssa, look!"

The orange-haired woman looked at the direction Natsu was pointing at and her eyes widened in shock. Floating in the water was an unconscious young woman with short lavender hair.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Alyssa asked before noticing something else. "And why is she naked?"

Natsu looked away as Alyssa went to help the floating woman. Watching all of this was Lyon staring like he had seen a ghost.

"U-Ur?"

"Natsu! Alyssa!" The dragon-slayer turned as saw the rest of his comrades run into the cavern.

"What the hell just happened?" Lucy asked.

"Turns out that the Iced Shell thing was slowly killing Deliora all these years." The salmon-haired wizard answered. The five new arrivals gave a simultaneous sigh.

"Thank the Celestial King." Alexander said. "After the day we've had, I don't think we could've beat something like that."

"That's not the only thing." Alyssa said while carrying the naked woman towards them. While the girls and Happy looked on in confusion, Natsu looked away in embarrassment, Zeke had a nosebleed and Alexander had a perverted grin before shaking his head and giving up his jacket to cover the lavender-haired woman.

"So, who is this?" Zeke asked as he whipped his nose clean.

"I-It's Ur." The group turned and saw Lyon looked at the covered woman with a mix of shock and happiness. "She transformed herself into the ice that sealed Deliora. But how is she alive?"

"No idea." The archer stated. "But if I had to guess, it might have something to do with the Moon Drip. After all, it's never been attempted on an Iced Shell before."

"Ya, sorry I couldn't stop it. I was busy fighting this weird..." Natsu said as he turned to where Zalty was, but now he was gone. "Where the hell did he go?!"

"Well, at least the curse is dealt with." Marianne said, confusing Lyon.

"What curse?"

"You know, the curse that turned all of the villagers into demons. We think Deliora and the Moon Drip caused it." Lucy explained.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Ice wizard stated.

"Don't lie! It was your ceremony that made the moon turn purple!" Happy yelled.

"And the villagers said their change happened about three years ago." Alyssa stated.

"Look, when we first came here, we were aware that there was a village. But we saw no reason to communicate with the villagers so we left them alone. And they never came to the temple to see what we were up to." He explained, confusing the group.

"That's not true. The chief told us that they have sent search parties to the temple, but every time they sent someone, they would always end up back at the village with no memory of what happened." Zeke replied.

"Well, I can't say why that is. But I can tell you that the villagers weren't transformed by the Moon Drip. It doesn't affect the human body."

"Ya, right." Alexander said with suspicion. "You're probably lying to get you and your pals off the hook."

"Bold words coming from a pirate." Lyon retorted. "Just think about it. I've been exposed to it as long as they have and my appearance hasn't changed one bit."

"That's true." Lucy commented.

"Of course! How could I have missed that?!" Zeke yelled, angry at himself for not noticing that detail.

"Wait, what about the membrane?" Alexander asked, getting everyone's attention.

"What membrane?" Happy asked.

"You know, the giant lense-shaped membrane floating over Galuna." The blue-haired pirate answered. "Didn't you guys see it when you docked?"

"No, we got caught up in a tidal wave." Lucy answered, surprising the two pirates. Suddenly, Zeke snapped his fingers.

"Okay, now I got an idea!" The archer wizard said with a grin.

"That was fast." The blonde celestial wizard stated.

"Either way, I wouldn't trust them. Those villagers are hiding something." Lyon chimed in. "But I'm sure you guild wizards can handle it."

"We're not guild wizards." Marianne corrected as Alexander started thinking of something.

"We're not done with you." Natsu said as he glared at the defeated Cold Emperor. "You destroyed the village."

"While I can't excuse what you did, I do understand why your allies followed you." Zeke said, getting Natsu and Lyon's attention. "Toby and Claudia told us about how they and all of your other followers lost their families and homes because of Deliora. And how you convinced them that if they helped you release the demon that you would kill it."

"So wait. What're we gonna do about the villagers?" Alyssa asked as Zeke sighed.

"No idea."

"Well that's a first." Lucy commented. The group started to leave the cave, Marianne carrying Ur on her shoulder as she went ahead with Natsu, Zeke, Alexander, Lucy and Happy. Before Alyssa left, she turned towards Lyon.

"You know, you really should join a guild." The orange-haired amazon said, surprising the Ice Wizard. "Mine helped me find a new dream. Maybe if you joined one, you'll find your own."

Lyon looked at her before turning his head. "Whatever." As Alyssa started to walk away, the Ice Wizard looked back up. "You'll take care of her, right?"

Alyssa nodded as she gave him a kind smile. "You sure you don't want to be there when she wakes up?"

"I-I need some time." Lyon stated. After all, the woman he had thought to be dead for years was now alive. And now he felt ashamed for what he had done and didn't feel like facing her.

"I get it." The speed queen replied. "When you're ready, be sure to drop by Fairy Tail." And with that she left, leaving Lyon alone with his thoughts.

**_And then..._ **

"Well, this is weird." Zeke said as the group arrived at the camp after meeting up with the rest of the Star Liberators.

"Where are they?" One of them asked as the they started to look around. Soon, one of the villagers came and told them to come with him back to village. They came with and much to their shock, the village was completely restored, like nothing had happened to it, much to the joy of the villagers.

"Woah, are you kidding me?" Lucy asked.

"Yesterday it was a total mess. But now it looks perfect."

"What's going on?" Zeke asked. "It's like the village went back in time or something."

"Back in time." Natsu said to himself, suddenly remembering about Zalty. "Oh ya, that guy I was fighting used some kind of lost time magic."

"You think he fixed the village?" Alyssa asked.

"He didn't seem like he would do something like that." Natsu replied as Zeke started to ponder.

"And there was no trace of him." The brunette stated. "We might run into him again knowing our luck."

Meanwhile, Lucy had left to get the team's stuff until she spotted Moka sitting in front of his son's grave. "You and your wizard friends used magic to restore our village, didn't you?"

"Um...well sir...that's not."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate it." The chief said as he got up and turned towards the blonde Celestial wizard. "However, I must know...WHEN ARE YOU WIZARDS FINALLY GOING TO DESTROY THE MOON FOR US?! WELL?!"

"In a few minutes." Zeke said, getting the chief's attention. "We just need a moment to catch our breath after the hectic day we've had."

'Wow. He actually said that with a straight face.' Lucy thought to herself with a sweat drop. A few minutes later (after getting the still unconscious Ur into a medical tent), the villagers, pirates and wizards were gathered in the center of town, watching as Natsu, Alyssa and Zeke stretched a bit.

"Are you just going to sit there and stretch?" One of the villagers asked.

"Just give us a second." Alyssa replied.

"Ya, I finally get what all this was about." Zeke said. "The Moon Drip, all the search parties being teleported back to the village. It all finally makes sense."

"How so?" One of them asked.

"Just sit back and watch." Natsu grinned as the three founding members of Team Morningstar looked up at the purple moon. "So, we're going to use that?"

"Yup." Zeke replied with a smile as Alyssa did the same.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Happy cheered along with the rest of villagers in anticipation.

"What is exactly is that?" Marianne asked Lucy.

"No idea. I'm still a bit of a newbie." The younger blonde replied.

"Let's do it!" Alexander and his crew cheered as they raised up their drinks. Alyssa cracked her knuckles, Zeke conjured up his longbow and Natsu ate some of the fire from the torches for energy.

"Just like we practiced." Zeke said as he created a spiraling arrow in his right hand and loaded it into the bow, aiming up at the sky."In three..."

Alyssa held her hands up as they started spin.

"Two..."

Natsu started sucking in some air.

"One." Zeke said as he drew back on the string. "Now!"

 _"Speed Queen: Twin Twister!_ "

_"Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!"_

_"Fire Dragon Roar!"_

The three magical attacks blasted off into the sky and headed for the moon. As they reached higher, the wind, energy arrow and fire started colliding with each other and soon merged. The energy from the Drill Arrow started to combine with the fire and made it take on a green shade as it spun with the combining twisters.

"Their magic combined?!" Lucy gasped.

"Keep going!" Zeke yelled as the three put more of their magic into the combined attack, making their spells combine until the a tornado of emerald fire was blasting towards the moon. The attack seemingly impacted with the moon in a flash of light before it vanished. Everyone looked up and soon saw cracks forming on the purple moon. The villagers started to cheer until they saw cracks appear in the sky around the moon until it shattered, revealing a regular colored moon.

"The moon...it's still there!" Moka said in disbelief.

"Whenever the Moon Drip ceremony started, it released magic energy in the form of a gas that hovered over the island and solidified." Zeke explained as the villagers started to glow. "That's why the moon looked purple. And now, you guys should return to your true selves."

But much to their shock, the villagers still looked like demons as the glow faded. "I don't understand. We still look like demons." One of them stated.

"Bingo. That's 'cause you guys are demons." Alyssa said with a smile. "The Moon Drip didn't affect your appearance. It affected your minds."

"You guys thought you were humans that were turned into demons when you're really demons that can turn human." Natsu stated. "The Moon Drip screwed with your memories and made you think your human forms were your original ones."

"It's also why you couldn't go to the temple." Zeke continued to explain. "The moonlight collected there is sacred, so beings of darkness can't enter."

"You guys are pretty clever. I knew I could count on you guys." Everyone turned and were shocked to see a familiar face (except for the Star Liberators). The man in question was Bobo, who had now taken on a fully demonic form. "Thanks for you help, wizards. I owe you one."

"A GHOST!" Lucy and Happy exclaimed as they held each other in fear.

"Oh sweet Mavis, no!" Zeke yelled.

"Bobo." A speechless Moka said.

"But I thought you were..."

"Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad. But you gotta do more than that to kill a demon." The fisherman said with a chuckle.

"But you disappeared into thin air!" A freaked out Alyssa stated. In response, Bobo took off, revealing his demonic wings.

"I really hope you kids can forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner."

"He can fly?" Zeke asked.

"That is so cool!" Natsu said with sparkles in his eyes.

"I was the only one who didn't have any memory loss. I had to leave because everyone went nuts." The airborne demon explained. "I knew I was a demon, but everyone else suddenly thought they were cursed humans."

Moka looked with tears in his eyes and he sprouted his wings. He took off and embraced his son. "Bobo!"

Seeing his old man brought a smile to his face as Bobo hugged his father back. "I'm so glad you finally snapped out of it pops."

Seeing this, the villagers started sprouting their own wings and flew around, happy about Bobo's return and their real memories returning as the humans and cat watched with smiles on their face.

"You know, if you look at their faces, they don't really look like demons." Natsu stated. "They kind of look more like angels."

"Let's have a feast tonight to celebrate!" Moka exclaimed, the other demons and Natsu cheering.

"I don't know if I'm rowdy enough to party with demons." Lucy said with a sweat-drop.

"Me either." Happy retorted.

"Hahaha." Alexander chuckled, getting Marianne's attention. "We might not have found the right key, but we sure found a lot of fun!"

The dirty blonde woman smiled and nodded. "That's for sure."

Later, everyone was eating as the feast began, Natsu dining on some fire as Zeke sat next to his friend.

"Hey, you're the guy who said we looked cool, right?" The two boys turned and saw a blue-skinned demon that Zeke recognized from earlier due to her wardrobe along with three other demon girls.

"Yup. And you still look cool." Natsu answered, making the demon girls blush.

"Um, Natsu..." Zeke said, only to be interrupted by the girls surrounding his salmon-haired friend.

"Just so you know, every girl in our village has totally fallen for cause we think you're like the coolest guy ever!"

"Ya, she's right! We're think you're super awesome, Natsu!"

The dragon-slayer sweat dropped at this attention. "Well I appreciate the compliments ladies. I already have a girlfriend." He said making the demon girls pout in sadness. Noticing this, he put his arm around Zeke and pointed to the confused archer. "But my friend here is still single!"

"WHAT?!" The archer exclaimed with wide eyes. "N-No...that's not...I mean..."

The girls smiled and dragged Zeke away. "Come on, we'll some you how demons dance."

"Well, I suppose dancing can't hurt." The brunette said with a sweat-drop. 'And please let that be all that happens.'

Lucy, Alyssa and Happy noticed their leader being dragged away and smiled. "Looks like someone's getting a lot attention from the ladies." Lucy said.

"About time. Zeke's never been that popular with girls before, so he does deserve it." Alyssa stated.

"But I don't those girls are his type." Happy stated.

"You know, this is nice." The girls and cat turned and saw Alexander sitting next to them. "Normally me and crew just find some dirty guild or corrupt business man, take some their money, leave a tip for the authorities and leave. I can't remember the last time I had dinner that wasn't on my ship."

"That's good to hear." Lucy said. Alexander then scratched the back of his head as he asked his next question.

"Hey, w-would it be alright if I joined Fairy Tail?" He asked, surprising the three. "I know, longshot. But it would be nice to finally have someplace to relax. And most of the crew are older than me so..."

"Sure." Alyssa answered, making the one-eyed pirate do a double take.

"Really?!"

"Sure. Although the master might put you and Marianne on probationary status, but me and guys can put in a good word for you." The amazonian woman explained.

"Aye!" Happy replied.

"I'll even put in a good word for you on one condition." Lucy said.

"And what would that be?"

"You teach me about the Celestial Arms."

The blue-haired man looked at his fellow celestial wizard before having a good laugh. "You got yourself a deal."

As the night when on, several events happened. Moka told the group that they had restored their faith in humans and were now ready to interact with the outside world. Even more surprising, Yuka and Cherry were let out of their holding cell as Claudia came down later, getting on her hands and knees and apologizing for all the destruction they had caused in the name of their revenge. And unsurprisingly, Natsu invited their three former enemies to join them in the festivities. While the three were a little hesitant at first, they did sit down and ended up having a good time. But as all the partying was going on, no one noticed Zalty preached on a branch outside the village. He removed his mask as his body glowed, revealing his true form as a woman with lavender hair, white clothing and a striking resemblance to Ur.

Speaking of Ur, the next morning, the Ice Master started to stir and slowly woke up. "What...what happened?" The lavender-haired woman sat up, looking around in confusion. She felt her face and then looked at her hands. "Last thing I remembered, I cast the Iced Shell."

"Oh, you're awake." Ur turned and saw Lucy walk into the tent with some medical supplies. "About time. We were starting to worry about you. I'm Lucy by the way."

"Oh...hello, Lucy." The ice master said. "Where am I? Based on the temperature, I'm guess it's not Brago."

"Ya, you got a lot to catch up on."

"How long was I..."

"Part of the Iced Shell?" Lucy asked, surprising Ur and getting a nod. "I think about ten years."

Ur said nothing for a minute before yelling in surprise, shocking Lucy. "TEN YEARS?! Oh my god, what happened to my students?! Their names are Gray and Lyon!"

"I've met Lyon and...wait. Did you say Gray? As in Gray Fullbuster?"

"Yes. You know him?"

A few hours later (after catching Ur up on current events and Lucy giving her one of her outfits that consisted of a black t-shirt, jeans and shoes), the group were ready to depart from the island. Moka and Zeke shook hands as the demon chief once again thanked them and handed the seven-million jewel reward and the golden gat key that Lucy identified as Sagittarius. Bobo offered to take them back, but Alexander offered them a ride back to Magnolia on his ship, the Jabberwocky. As the group was heading towards the pirate ship, Lucy noticed the three Morningstar founders smiling at the fact that they completed an S-Class mission.

"By the way guys. What was that attack you used last night?" Lucy asked and was then confused by the embarrassed look on her friend's faces.

"Well we don't really have a name for it." Natsu answered.

"Really?"

"Give us a break. We only figured out could do that four months ago and we haven't used it that much." Alyssa stated.

Soon the group reached the pirate ship and everyone but Natsu and the pirates looked at the ship in admiration. As Natsu attempted to try and swim away, but Alyssa speed towards him and dragged him back to the ship as everyone had a good laugh.

'Not even a member for a month and I've already completed my first S-Class Mission.' Lucy thought to herself as she boarded the ship. 'It's official, I love being a member of Fairy Tail.' She thought to how Alexander was going to help her with her magic. 'And I'm definitely going to get stronger.'

Soon, the Jabberwocky took sail as the islanders waved and shouted their goodbyes. From on top a nearby cliff, the bandaged-up Lyon watched the pirate ship sail off as Cherry, Toby, Claudia and the Brago villagers stood near him.

"You know, they weren't so bad." Yuka stated.

"Guys I'm not crying. I just got something in my eye." A sobbing Toby said.

"It's okay. Just let it out." Claudia replied.

"Are you okay, Lyon?" Cherry asked in concern. "You never got the chance to say goodbye to your master and give her your love."

"It's fine." Lyon calmly replied. "When I'm ready, I'll go see her again." A smile made its way to his face as he thought back to what Alyssa said last night and turned to Toby and Yuka. "You two were in a guild once. What's it like?"

On the Jabberwocky, Ur leaned over the railings, basking in the sunlight as she started thinking. 'Ten years. I wonder how Gray will react to seeing me. And Ultear, would she even remember me?' She turned as saw Zeke and Alyssa holding a sea sick Natsu from jumping off the ship as Lucy and Happy watched in embarrassment. Alexander steered the ship as Marianne gave orders to the crew. Seeing these sights brought a smile to her face. 'Oh well. Can't linger on the past. Not when the future is so bright.'

(We see chibi versions of Zeke and Ur on the deck of the Jabberwocky.)

Ur: So Zeke, how's Gray doing these days?

Zeke: Fine, he's actually considered one of the most skill wizards in Fairy Tail and he's Natsu rival.

Ur: Really that's great. I know he was a handful back when he was a kid.

Zeke: He still kind of is, especially with his stripping habit.

Ur (shocked): He still does that?!

Zeke: Next Time: The Changeling! I wonder how the rest of guild's gonna react to all this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note 2: Holy Crap! That was another long-ass chapter that brought an end to the Galuna Island arc. And like the end of the Lullaby arc, I need to explain a few things.
> 
> 1). Alyssa's Overclock Spell: This came to my mind when thinking of natural ways to make Alyssa stronger. Then I remembered the Kaio-Ken from Dragon Ball Z and the thought instantly clicked in my head. So ya, Alyssa can focus all of her magic to enhance all of her abilities, but it only lasts for about forty seconds, drains all of her current magic and it puts strain on her body. But forty seconds is still plenty of time for a speedster. Also, her appearance in this 'form' is red skin and purple magic circles hovering by the sides of her shoulders.
> 
> 2). The Miracle: Part of my plan to expand the mythology of the Fairy Tail world, since in the canon series all we get is Zeref's history.
> 
> 3). The combined attack: I serious can't think of a name for it, so if anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome.
> 
> 4). Ur's revival: I honestly think Ur's a pretty awesome character and hey, this is a world that operates on magic. Plus, her return opens up so many story telling potential. From her interactions with Gray and Lyon to even a confrontation with Ur I have planned. But that's for another island arc.
> 
> 5). The Shadowman: All in due time but it does help flesh out Alyssa's back story and I do have a plan for this dark figure.
> 
> Thanks for reading and please help support this fic by reviewing, favoriting and help edit the TV Tropes page! See ya next time!


	10. The Changeling

_Chapter 10: The Changeling_

"Was...huh...was this really necessary?!" Lucy exclaimed as she climbed a rope. After sailing back to Magnolia via the Jabberwocky, the Star Liberators dropped anchor on the cliff behind the guild and were now climbing up the cliff wall.

"Come on, guys! Hurry up!" Natsu shouted from higher up, Happy having flown up beforehand.

"You're almost there!" Alyssa cheered, having used her Speed Queen Magic to run up the cliff.

"My students can climb better than you!" Ur yelled.

"I'm still semi-injured, you jerks!" Zeke yelled.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching you two." Alexander said as he easily climbed past them. "A little exorcize is always good for the hearts. Right, guys?"

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Marianne and the rest of the pirates replied heartily.

"I still have no idea how we're going to explain to everyone about 30 pirates joining the guild." Lucy sweat dropped.

"The bar fights are going to be even more chaotic now." Zeke grimly replied.

A few minutes later, Team Morningstar and the pirates entered the guild hall through the back entrance.

"Hey guys! We completed our first S-Class mission!" Natsu cheered. The entire guild turned and froze they saw the massive group.

"Welcome back, guys!" Mirajane greeted with her usual cheery smile, until she saw the massive group of unfamiliar faces.

"What the hell?" Cana asked in confusion before looking at her beer mug. 'Maybe I've had too much.'

"Okay, what did you guys do this time?" Elfman asked.

"Zeke. You better have a good explanation." A slightly ticked off Lyle said.

However, Gray's attention was drawn to a certain older woman he thought he would never see again. He slowly walked to the group and approached the woman.

"Ma...Master Ur?" Gray asked with wide eyes. "Is...is that really you?"

The Ice Master looked at the young man for a bit before recognizing him. "Gray? Wow, you've really changed in ten years." She gave the ice wizard and smile that only she could give.

"It's you." Gray quietly said as tears came to his eyes. "It really is you."

"It's good to see you too, Gray." Ur said as her eyes started to water. The former master and student tearfully embraced as the rest the guild watched with confusion, content and happiness.

"You...I see you made some new friends." Erza said with a stunned expression.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Zeke stated, figuring that they had a lot to explain.

_**And then...** _

"Well, I don't see any residual side effects apart from some low magical energy." Lyle said as he cheeked over Ur with some healing magic. "Give it a few days and your magic will be back to full strength."

"Pretty impressive considering you've been a block of ice for ten years." Zeke stated.

"Well, the sooner the better." The Ice master said. "I've been static for ten years, so I'm itching for some action."

"I can't believe Lyon did all that." Gray said as Natsu was explaining the events of the Galuna Island mission. He also noticed Ur looking at him funny.

"What is it, Master?"

"Gray, why are you half-naked?" The ice wizard looked down and saw that he had stripped down to his boxers.

"It's your fault!" He said as he pointed to the older ice wizard.

"How is that my fault?" A confused Ur asked.

"You made me and Lyon strip down to perfect our Ice-Make magic and now stripping has becoming a subconscious routine for me!" Gray explained. "Do you know how much trouble I've gotten into because of that?!"

"You made two kids stripe in snow?!" Lyle asked.

"Wow, no wonder you're a pervert, Gray." Natsu said to his half-naked rival.

"Ya, you get it from your master." Happy chimed.

"I'm not a pervert!" The two ice wizards yelled simultaneously.

"Well, this is all very riveting." A bored Alexander said. "But who do I have to talk to join this guild?"

"The master's out at the moment, but he should be back later today." The pirate turned and saw Mirajane smiling at him. Without warning, he lifted her chin with his hand and looked her in the eye.

"Then I guess I'll need some other way to pass the time. But if it's with a goddess like yourself, I don't mind waiting." He said with a smooth voice. And much to everyone's surprise, Mira's entire body turned red as she pushed the blue-haired pirate away.

"Whydon'tIgetyouandyourcrewsomedrinks!" The flustered barmaid exclaimed as she started preparing drinks and tried to avoid looking at the smiling celestial wizard.

"Woah. I've never seen Mirajane act like this." Alyssa stated.

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"As the Fairy Tail cover girl, she's had tons of guys hit on her." Zeke explained. "But this is the first time she's ever been flustered by a guy."

"I'm more surprised the Captain's flirting actually worked." A stunned Marianne stated.

"Who those that one-eyed bastard think he is?!" Elfman yelled, not happy that the pirate Captain was flirting with his sister.

"Hey guys!" The group turned and saw Natsu holding a job flyer in his hand. "I got our next job!"

"We just got back!" Lucy exclaimed. "And considering we almost died on our last mission, I think I'll need a few days before going on another one."

"But we don't even have to leave the guild for this one." The dragon-slayer explained as he held put the poster, showing a diagram of ancient text and two menacing eyes. "All we have to do is translate the text on this poster and mail the translation to the client."

"That seems like an odd job request." Alyssa stated. Zeke started to look over the poster.

"Odd or not, I could use a test of my brain power. Okay, just leave the translation to me!" The archer sat down at a table and started examining the poster. A few minutes later, he was scratching his head in irritation. "What kind of messed up ancient civilization wrote this? I can't tell if this symbols are uppercase letters or numbers!"

"So you can't do it?" Alyssa asked.

"I thought book stuff was your specialty, Crack Shot." Alexander said as he drank some whiskey.

"Well, I got a rough translation so far, but it might be off a bit." The archer looked at the poster. " _Caveras toba vercuo gioa talelva."_

"What's that mean?" Happy asked.

"So far, it just seems like gibberish." Zeke explained. Suddenly, the poster started to glow as the group looked in shock.

"What did you do?!" Natsu yelled. The group was engulfed in light, blinding the rest of the guild.

"Geez! What kind of poster blinds people?" The wizards looked at the young voice who said that and saw a young man with short blonde hair, brown eyes, a princely white jacket and pants with a set of gate keys on his side.

"Why does my chest feel so heavy?" A woman with brown curly hair that reached the middle of her back, green eyes, and generous chest hidden behind a black t-shirt, jean shorts and a pendant hanging from her left wrist.

"Woah! When did everything get shorter?" An amazonian woman with long spiky pink hair, a closed black vest, baggy pants and a scarf asked.

"I suddenly feel a lot lighter." A young man with spiky orange hair, a purple guild mark on his left cheek, a red track suit and black fingerless gloves stated.

"AHH! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" Happy yelled in a more feminine voice. The only difference seemed to be a pink bow on her left ear.

"Well, this is...odd." A blue-haired woman with an eyepatch and pirate coat said as she felt up her large bosom.

"What the hell's going on?!" Gray asked.

"CAPTAIN!" Marianne and the rest of the Star Liberators exclaimed in shock.

"You've all switched genders!" Erza exclaimed. The group looked at each other and gasped.

"Natsu, you've huge!" Alyssa stated as 'he' looked up at the now amazonian dragon-slayer.

"And you've gotten tiny, Alyssa." The taller 'woman' stated.

"It's gone!" Zeke said as 'she' looked down 'her' pants with tears in 'her' eyes. "My lower arrow is gone!"

"Huh. My back actually feels a lot better." Lucy said as 'he' stretched a bit.

"That's weird." Happy said as 'she' adjusted the bow on 'her' ear. "I don't feel that different." The now female cat turned and saw that Alex was still fondling 'her' chest. "I think you've confirmed that you're a girl now."

"I know." Alexander said with a perverted grin. "But when am I going to another chance to do this?" 'She' started moving 'her' breasts up and down, making a few guys in the guild blast back from their nosebleeds.

"Alex, stop that!" Lucy exclaimed as 'he' pointed at 'her', only to feel a drip of blood come down from 'his' nose.

'Ahhhhh! I'm so confused!' Mirajane screamed in her head as she looked at the now female pirate. 'I still think Alex looks hot! But I'm not attracted to girls, right? AHHHH!'

"Oh come on!" Everyone turned and saw Master Makarov walking in. "Can't I step out for a few hours without you kids causing trouble? Who casted a changeling spell?"

"Zeke did it." The group all pointed to the now female brunette.

"Way to throw me under the carriage." The archer replied with a deadpan expression.

"You know what's going on, Master?" Lyle said, a bit freaked out by the sight of his 'daughter.' The small master nodded.

"The Changeling spells are ancient curses meant to change something about the caster. Some can change personalities, others can change magic. But this particular spell appears to be the Changeling spell of Lust."

"Lust?" The six gender-swapped wizards asked, getting a nod.

"From what I've heard, this spell changes the caster and anyone around them into what they find attractive in the opposite gender."

"Oh, so that's why Natsu and Alyssa look like each other." The now female Happy stated. The two swapped wizards looked at each and came to the same realization with blushes on their faces. "And now we know why Zeke broke up with Levy."

"What are you talking about?" The aforementioned archer asked.

"Levy has small boobs. And yours are huge." Happy stated, making the rest of his team drop in bafflement.

"Who's Levy?" Alexander asked.

"My ex. And no Happy, that's not why we broke up." Zeke replied as 'she' got back up and turned towards Makarov. "Is there a way to reverse this spell?" The smaller man rubbed his chin as everyone looked at him.

"Well, considering this is an ancient spell, it only stands to reason that I...don't know." He replied, making Alexander and Team Morningstar slam their heads against the table, which got a big laugh out of Ur. "But what I do know is that if the spell isn't reverse by the end of the day, there'll by no way to restore you to your original genders."

The six gender-swapped wizards turned white in shock by this.

"Zeke, how could you?!" Alyssa cried out.

"You've screwed us all!" Lucy yelled.

"It's not like I meant to do this!" The archer replied.

"Oh man, Gray! You're friends are a riot!" The Ice Master giggled. With this, Makarov finally noticed the 33 unfamiliar faces in the guild.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Introductions later! Somebody please change us back!" The now-amazonian Natsu yelled, unaware that 'her' frantic movements opened up 'her' vest, causing Alyssa, Lucy and most of the men (and some women) in the guild to have simultaneous nosebleeds (expect for Romeo as Macao covered his son's eyes).

"Natsu! Cover your shame!" Erza yelled, finally making the dragon-slayer realize 'her' bosom was exposed and quickly used 'her' scarf to cover up.

'I feel so ashamed. Amelia forgive me!' Lyle tearfully thought to himself as he wiped his nose.

"Gross! I actually a nosebleed 'cause of firespit!' A sickened Gray thought to himself.

"This is just getting asinine." Marianne stated as she palmed her face. "Zeke, can't you translate the spell and reverse it?"

"I've tried, but it just looks like gibberish!"

"Stop whining and act like a man!" Elfman chastised his friend.

"Hard to do that since he's not a man anyone." A sweat-dropping Lucy replied.

"Hey, what's going on?" Everyone turned and saw Team Shadow Gear walk into the guild.

"Levy!" Zeke said as 'she' approached the petite wizard. "Thank Mavis, you can help us!"

"Um, who are you?" The Solid Script wizard asked.

"It's me, Zeke."

"WHUUUU?!" Levy, Jet and Droy exclaimed.

_**One explanation later...** _

"So you accidentally casted the Lust spell." Levy stated as her ex-boyfriend nodded. The blunette then noticed Zeke's generous chest and retreated into a fetal position with a 'emo' aura around her.

"You said that wasn't a problem!" The petite woman cried out.

"You're really doing this now?! Time is of the essence!" The brunette 'woman' yelled.

"I can't be a boy for the rest of my life!" Lucy exclaimed. "All of my best clothing will just look weird on me now. Oh, and the...um..."

"You don't want to have a %^*(?" Alexander replied, getting a nod from the blushing blond. "Ya, the breasts are nice, but starting to miss my Johnson." The 'female' pirate started, getting another fullbody blush from Mirajane.

"Come on, Levy. We could really use your help." Zeke said as he put his hand on her shoulder. The bluenette turned and saw her ex-boyfriend's smile, getting her out of her stupor.

"Okay." She said as she got back up.

"I'll help out anyway I can, too." Lyle said. "And we better start soon, cause we only have eight hours left."

"Oh no!" Alyssa and Natsu cried out.

"Somebody please fix this!" Lucy said.

"Aye!" Happy followed up.

Bringing out a bunch of a reference books and each pulling out their own Wind Reader glasses, three of the smartest wizards in Fairy Tail started their attempt to translate and reverse the Lust spell as Jet and Droy got into their cheer outfits.

"You got this, Levy!" Jet cheered as he waved a fan.

"Do your best!" Droy cheered as he banged his drum.

"Is all the cheering really going to help?" Erza asked. "It seems more distracting than anything else."

As the brain trust keep researching, the rest of the affected wizards just sat at their table waiting.

"Figures. We finally complete an S-Class mission only to have this happen." Alyssa said with a sigh.

"Ugh! I can't take this waiting!" Natsu yelled as 'she' got up. "Gray, fight me!"

"You sure you want to?" The ice wizard asked his now feminine rival, only go get a fire-covered fist to his jaw. "Okay, you asked to it Fire-Tits!"

"Bring it, ya pervert!" The dragon-slayer yelled as they started flinging ice and fire at each other.

"Great. Just what this day needed." Makarov groaned as took a sip of his beer.

"Huh. We didn't even check to see if our magic still works." Lucy realized as 'he' watched Gray and Natsu fight. The blond took out 'his' gate key ring only to groan as he realized there was only one spirit available today. "Oh great. Better get this over with.  _Open, Gate of the Water Bearer - Aquarius!_ " From the gate came a beautiful mermaid woman with blue-hair, a blue headband, a blue bikini top, a blue tail and was carrying a vase.

"Oh no, it's the crazy fish lady!" Happy yelled.

"Hey, Aquarius." Lucy greeted the mermaid spirit. The floating spirit and raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

The blond 'man' sighed. "It's me, Lucy." The water spirit started at 'him' for a bit before bursting out in laughter.

"Oh sweet Celestial King! Were you so desperate to get a boyfriend that you turned yourself into a guy?!" Aquarius laughed, making an anger tick appear on the blond 'man's' forehead.

"I didn't do this on purpose, you bitch fish!" 'He' yelled back, making the water spirit stop her laughing and she scowled at the Celestial wizard.

"What was that?"

"You know it's true!" The blond 'man' stated with an accusing point. "I just needed to test if my magic still works and you just start with the attitude again!"

"I think Lucy's testosterone is kicking in." Alyssa whispered to Happy as the two continued to bicker.

"Aye."

"But she...he...Lucy does raise a good point." The spiky-haired 'man' said as 'he' got up. 'He' started channeling 'his' magic and took off, only hit a pillar face first. "Ow."

"Perfect. You can call yourself the Cannonball King now." Erza attempted to joke, only to hear no one laughing.

"If that was joke, it sucked." Alyssa replied.

"Shut it. But look on the bright side, Alyssa. You're finally the right gender."

"What's that supposed to mean, Tin Can?!" The orange-haired speed wizard yelled as 'he' glared at 'his' rival.

"Okay, I think we got it!" Lyle stated, getting everyone's attention. "Levy, you want to do the honors?"

"Sure thing. While we couldn't find an exact translation, we did figure out how to reverse it." The Solid Script wizard explained as she held up the poster and started to chant. " _Avlelat Aoig Oucrev Abot Sarevac!'_ '

After repeating the chant a few times, the guild was once again covered in light. After it passed, Zeke opened 'her' eyes and looked down, seeing two things on his chest were missing.

"It worked! I'm a guy again!" The brunette cheered. He turned and saw that Natsu, Alyssa, Happy, Lucy and Alexander had happily changed into their correct genders. But before they had a chance to celebrate, they heard a male scream.

"What did you do to me?!" The six turned and saw a blue-haired merman.

"Aquarius?!" Lucy yelled.

"My manly-ness is gone!" They turned and saw a tan white-haired woman in a school uniform cry out that they quickly identified as Elfman.

"Does anyone else feel a draft?" A half-naked black-haired woman asked.

"Gray, cover up!" A now masculine Ur shouted, making the ice wizard cover up in shame.

"Oh no. This is bad." A white-haired man in a fancy red suit that was Mirajane said.

"Okay, clearly this spell was more complicated than I thought." Levy stated as 'he' was now a muscular man with long spiky hair.

"Hypocrite!" Zeke yelled.

"This is not happening!" A red-haired man in armor panicked.

"Geez, I seriously need a drink." A topless brown-haired man groaned.

"Well, you hear me complaining." A grey-haired woman with an hourglass figure stated. As the now gender-swapped guild grew more and more chaotic, a sweat-dropping Zeke approached the now male Levy.

"I think me and my team are gonna step outside. Try doing it again."

Soon afterwards, Levy managed to reverse the spell and turn everyone back to the right gender. After Natsu burned up the poster in a fit of rage, Team Morningstar explained the events of Galuna Island to Makarov. While he had some reservations about having pirates in the guild, the Fairy Tail master decided to let Alexander and Marianne join as they were the only wizards as the Star Liberators agreed to help with security and clean up for the guild. Alexander got a red guild mark on his eye-patch, Marianne got a yellow on her left forearm and Ur got a black one on the right side of her neck. After this, the guild decided to celebrate both Team Morningstar's success and the new members joining. As the guild partied into the night, a woman in her forties with shoulder-length strawberry-blonde hair, green eyes, an athletic figure, an elaborate green & white uniform, a cross pendant on right wrist and a travel bag draped over her shoulders. She stopped in front of the guild with a smile before kicking open the doors.

"Hey guys! I'm back!" The woman cheerfully said as she entered. The partying wizards looked and anyone who recognized the woman smiled.

"Amelia!" Lyle, Macao and Wakaba cheered.

"Mom!" Zeke said happily as he got up and greeted his mother with a tight hug.

"Hey, handsome." Amelia smiled as she hugged her son. She was then surprised as her husband lifted her and spun, making her laugh.

"Welcome back, baby." Lyle said as he shared a loving kiss with his wife.

"Woah! It's really Amelia!" Lucy fangirled.

"Hey, Mrs. Hudson." Natsu and Alyssa greeted.

"Welcome back!" Happy said as he flew.

"Good to see you too." The strawberry-blonde said. And just like that, Fairy Tail had another reason to party.


	11. Morningstar and the Dragon Egg

_Chapter 11: Morningstar and the Dragon Egg_

Midday rolled over the East Forrest of Magnolia. As the creatures went about their day, four wizards were seated at the bed of the local lake. Natsu, Alyssa, Happy and Lucy all had fishing rods (which were actually sticks with strings) in the water.

"Come on, I have a novel to write ya know. Why'd you have to drag me along on your stupid fishing trip?" Lucy complained.

"Ah, stop complaining. Besides, you just said you had writer's block, didn't ya?" Natsu replied.

"Aye. And nothing can get your creative juices flowing like a change of pace." Happy chimed in.

"Ya, but why does it have to be fishing?"

"Cause fish is my very most favoritist food." The blue cat replied with glee.

"Come on, Lucy. Think of this as a team building exercise." Alyssa said.

"If it's a team building exercise, then where's Zeke?" The blonde asked.

"Probably with his parents." The dragon-slayer answered. "I mean Amelia's been away for two months, so they'd probably want to make up for lost time."

"Oh ya." Lucy remembered before getting giddy. "I still can't believe I'm part of the same guild Amelia's in. She's like one of my heroes."

"Pretty cool, right?" Happy said. Suddenly, Natsu's line started tugging and the salmon-haired wizard stood up.

"Woah, I got one!"

"Watch out, it looks like a whooper!" Happy exclaimed.

"Quick, pull it in!" Alyssa said.

"Leave it to me!" With a powerful yell, Natsu pulled the fish out of the water. Said fish was a red serpentine-like creature that was bigger than all of them.

"It's huge!" An astonished Lucy stated.

"Oppa!" Happy cheerfully replied.

"We're eating good tonight!" Alyssa cheered as a nearby Reedus painted the scene with a smile on his face.

"Look at that. Just like the good old days." The painter said.

Lucy started sweat-dropping as Happy did his 'happy fish' dance. "I knew you were immature, but this is a new low."

But instead of a reply, Happy looked at the fish and yelled in shock as Natsu had used his fire magic to cook it.

"Now that looks tasty." Natsu said as he looked over his meal.

"You ruined it! Fish tastes better if you eat it raw!" The upset cat chimed in.

"Happy, you've never even eaten grilled fish." Alyssa replied.

"And why would I do that when it only takes a sec to grill it up?"

"'Cause that's how I wanted to eat it!" The blue cat cried until he felt Alyssa pet his head.

"Come on, little guy. Didn't you say you wanted expand your palette? You can't survive off of an all-raw fish diet." The orange-haired woman replied.

"Well...I did say that." Happy begrudgingly admitted.

"So try some." Natsu said as took off a small piece and held out for the cat, who looked at the cooked meat cautiously. "Come on, it won't bite."

Happy looked at the piece of fish and bite down. After a few experimental chews, the cat sallowed it and a smile appeared on his face. "Wow, it's actually pretty good!"

"See? That wasn't so bad!" Natsu said, only to feel a tug on his ear and seeing his girlfriend with a disappointed look. "What was that for?"

"You still should've asked if Happy wanted to have it grilled."

"But I'm the one who caught it." The salmon-haired wizard whined. "And besides, he ended up liking it."

"That's not the point!" Alyssa said as she placed her hands on her hips. "What you did was just rude. You should apologize."

"Alright, Happy I'm sor..." Natsu began as he looked down, only to notice Happy disappeared from his spot and was eating another chunk of the grilled fish.

"Apology accepted!" The cat said through a full mouth.

"Hey, don't eat it all." Alyssa said.

"Ya, save some for us!" Natsu yelled. As the three started eating the large fish, Lucy looked with a smile on her face.

'It's kind of like they're a family.' The blonde thought to herself.

"Hey Lucy, you want some?" Natsu asked as he held out a piece of meat for her.

"No thanks. I think I'm just gonna go hang at the guild."

"Okay, see ya later then." Alyssa waved to her teammate, Lucy doing the same as she started to walk away. As she walked towards the guild, she thought about the three she had left at the lake to have their meal and how Zeke was spending time with his parents. She sighed and just keep walking until she reached the guild and entered, asking if Alexander was around as she wanted to learn more about Celestial Arms. Levy told the celestial wizard that he was helping Mirajane down in the Fairy Tail Archives. But as she reached the lower levels of the guild hall, she stopped when she heard something suspicious.

"A little lower." She heard Mirajane's voice.

"I know. Believe or not, I don't do this that often." After a few seconds..."Damn, these are huge."

Hearing a giggle from Mirajane confused Lucy a bit as she placed her ear on the door. But then she remembered about how the white-haired barmaid blushed like crazy because of Alexander's flirting and now these two were alone in a room. 'No way! They wouldn't! Would they?' But as she thought to herself, Lucy leaned against the door to much and fell into the archives.

"Oh, is that you Lucy?" The blonde got up and saw that Mirajane as placing some books on one of the higher shelves while Alexander was busy sorting some large almanacs.

"I thought you and others went fishing?" The one-eyed pirate stated.

Seeing that they weren't doing what she thought they were doing, Lucy got up and cleared her mind of any dirty thoughts. "Well, I got bored and wanted to ask you something."

"If you can lend a hand with this stuff while we talk that'd be great." Alexander said. Lucy (not really minding handling books) nodded and the three went to work cleaning up the archives.

"So what was your question?" Alexander asked as he stacked a bunch of books on a desk.

"I wanted ask you about the Celestial Arms." Lucy said as she climbed a ladder and started placing books in their proper place. "Is that something you buy in shop or find as part of treasure?"

"Actually it's none of that." The blue-haired wizard answered as he pulled out his saber. "Believe it or not, these babies actually came from inside me."

Seeing the confusion on the two women's faces, Alexander sighed. "Okay, maybe I should let someone more qualified explain." He took out one of his red keys and held it out. " _Open, Gate of the Rooster - Gongji!_ " From the gate came a spirit that Lucy recognized from when Alexander used his Final Wave spell back on Galuna. Same dapper suit and multi-colored mohawk as he landed with a rooster call.

"Thank you calling upon me, Captain." The lanky spirit said as he gave a respectable bow. He then stood up and noticed the guild mark on his wizard's eyepatch. "I see you've the Fairy Tail Guild since Galuna."

"Spot on as always." Alexander said as he motioned to the two ladies in the room. "Lucy, Mirajane. This is Gongji, my most intelligent spirit."

"Pleasure to meet you." Mirajane said with a curtsy.

"Mine as well." He looked up and saw Lucy up above. "And you must be the other Celestial Wizard Hu told me about."

"That's her alright. She wanted to know more about the Celestial Arms."

A smile emerged on the rooster spirit's face as he pulled out a light pen from his pocket. "Very well." With astonishing speed, Gongji had draw an elaborate diagram showing a Celestial Wizard holding a key out and a swirling mass of golden energy inside the wizard's body. "You see, Celestial Magic usual works like this. The caster channels their magical energy through the key to create a gate that allows Celestial Spirits like myself to travel in between our two worlds. But what a lot of Celestial wizards don't realize is that every time they summon a spirit, they are exposed to the magical energies of the Celestial World which mixes in with their own energy."

"You make it sound like a disease." Lucy said, a bit uncomfortable by the fact that she had been slowly absorbing celestial energy.

"Rest assured, Lucy. There are no detrimental side effects. And it's this mixture of personal magic energy and cosmic magic energy that eventually creates a Celestial Arm." The rooster spirit then drew two diagrams: One featured a figure covered in light while the other figure held an axe in it's arms. "When the Celestial Wizard's inner energy reaches the right point, they can manifest their Arm. Usually this is brought on in a moment of passion or a life & death situation."

"He's right. My arms manifested when I was fighting a shark." Alexander stated, making Lucy sweat-drop at how nonchalantly he said it before fully processing what Gongji said.

"So I just have be in a moment of passion for my Arms to appear?"

"That or almost die." The rooster replied.

"Ya, I'm gonna try to avoid that." The blonde said as she sat on the ladder. "Anyway, can you elaborate on the attack you guys used on Galuna?"

"Ah, you mean the Final Wave. You see, since the Gate Keys and Celestial Arms share similar properties, the Arms usually have a keyhole meant to unleash a powerful spell. The downside is that the key used for the attacks needs to be a spirit that hasn't been called on during the same day and they need to give the Wizard permission to use their energy."

"So that's why you weren't corporeal when Alexander used your key." Lucy reasoned getting a nod from the rooster.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"No, that's about it for now. Thanks." Lucy said with a smile.

"Good work, old friend." Alexander congradulated his spirit.

"Always happy to help. Please don't hesitate to call me again." Gongji said as the returned to the celestial world.

"Well, looks there's a lot more to Celestial Magic than I thought." Mirajane said as the three went back to cleaning. But as she placing books back, Lucy found a painting in between one of the books and pulled it out.

"Hey, Mira? Do you know what this is?" Lucy said as she climbed down the ladder and showed the other two occupants the painting featuring several children, young adults and a blue dragon-like creature.

"Oh wow! I haven't seen that painting in forever!" Mira said with a smile.

"Is this you guys as kids?" Alexander asked, getting a nod from the barmaid.

"I'm guessing this shirtless kid is Gray. But who's the girl next to him?" Lucy asked.

"That's Cana."

"Really, that's the lady who dresses like a Bondala dancer?" The blue-haired pirate asked, then noticing a young Wakaba, Macao, a noticeably thinner Lyle and a glasses wearing Amelia.

Lucy then noticed two kids underneath the dragon creature. One was a brown-haired boy with a green shirt, black shorts, sandals, swirly glasses and a pendant hanging off his left wrist. The other was a tiny orange-haired girl in a red sundress and shoes. But what really got her attention was the purple guild mark on her cheek.

"That's Zeke and Alyssa?" Lucy asked, getting a nod from Mira. "Wow, I almost didn't recognize them." She then saw a smiling salmon-haired boy riding the dragon creature. "But I'd recognize that face and pink hair anywhere. But what's that dragon thing."

"That's Happy." The white-haired woman said, making the two Celestial Wizards do a double-take of the painting.

"Okay, I think some explanations are in order." Alexander stated, still disbelieving that the flying cat was once a dragon.

_**Years ago...** _

It was an average day in the East Forrest as a salmon-haired boy trained by punching a tree. The exact spot he was punching had cartoon image of a black-haired boy and a demonic red-haired girl on a piece of wood that he keep punching over and over. "Stupid Erza and Gray! You stink!"

"Erza kicked your butt again, didn't she?" The boy turned and saw this two best friends walking towards him. The brown-haired down his a smile on his face while the orange-haired girl with a concerned look.

"No...she just took me surprise, that's all!"

"Why do you keep challenging her?" The girl asked. "You know she's way stronger than you."

"She's not stronger than me, Alyssa! She's just a cheater!" Natsu exclaimed.

"So slamming you into a wall when you charge at her is considered cheating?" Zeke asked. "You have a weird definition of cheating."

"Just shut up and let me train!" Natsu yelled as he reared his fist back and punched the tree so hard that the birds flew away. However, his fist became bright red as the salmon-haired boy held back some tears of pain.

"Are you okay?" Alyssa asked.

"Sure I am." Natsu lied through gritted teeth. "That didn't hurt at all." Suddenly, a large egg flew on his head, knocking him back.

"Natsu!" The two yelled as they rushed to his aid.

"What the heck?" The salmon-haired boy groaned as he sat up and the three of them looked at the large egg.

"What kind of egg is that?" Alyssa asked.

"Doesn't look like any egg I've ever seen." Zeke said as he adjusted his swirly glasses. "But the flame markings do look really cool."

"Flame markings?" Natsu said as he inspected the egg, an idea suddenly forming in his head. "It's a dragon egg!"

"You think so?" Zeke asked as the three looked it over. "Hm. You might be right about that."

"Wow! A real dragon egg!" Alyssa said in glee.

"Come on, let's show everyone at the guild!" Natsu said as he grabbed the egg and ran off.

"Natsu, wait up!" The orange-haired girl said as she and Zeke chased after their energetic friend. A few minutes later, the three kids entered the busy guild.

"Hey you guys! Check out this awesome egg I just found!" Natsu exclaimed, getting everyone's attention.

"You mean we found it!" Zeke corrected.

"Where in blazes did you three pick up that thing?" Makarov asked.

"We found it in the east forest." Alyssa said.

"Look at that." A shirtless black-haired boy said. "I guess you guys are good for something after all. You gonna fry it up for us?"

"Gray, your clothes!" A blushing brunette girl said, making the young ice wizard panic.

"We're not frying it, you half-naked imbecile!" Zeke said as he adjusted his glasses. "We plan on hatching it!"

"Ya, can't you see it's a dragon's egg?" Natsu stated.

"Are you guys sure about that?" Cana asked.

"Well just look at the markings." Alyssa said as she pulled out a pillow that Natsu placed the egg on. "What other kind of creature would lay something like that besides a dragon?"

"So anyway Gramps, why don't you hatch the dragon with a spell?" Natsu asked the older man who was sitting on the bar counter.

"Don't be a fool. Using magic for such a purpose would dishonor the miracle of life. You see, life is born from love and love alone. No spell can transcend that power."

"Sorry, Gramps. I don't think I'm following ya." The salmon-haired boy replied, making Makarov sigh.

"Well, you'll understand when you grow up."

"He's saying if you want it to hatch, you have to work hard make it happen on your own." The kids turned and saw Erza walking towards them. "Since you usually just burn and break things all day, it might be nice to try something more productive for once."

"Erza!" Alyssa yelled as she cowered behind Natsu.

"I've been looking for you, Erza!" The redhead turned and saw Mirajane glaring at her with a smirk. "Why don't we pick off where we left off? Come and get some!"

"Oh no, not again." Zeke said as he started to sweat as the armored redhead turned around to face her rival.

"Mira. You know now that you mention it, we never did finish our match, did we?"

The two girls glared at each other until they charged.

"I'm gonna bury you alive!" Mira yelled.

"I'll make you beg for mercy!" Erza yelled as the two started their brawl, the two exchanging some very harsh insults at each other.

"Oh sure, she's all mad when we get in a fight, but she can wreck the whole guild whenever she wants." Gray said.

"Hypocrite." Alyssa whispered under her breath, no one but Natsu hearing it.

"Stop this foolishness at once!" A voice yelled as a circular shield flew and knocked the two brawling girls back. The silver shield returned to it's owner, a young boy about a year older than Natsu with spiky brown hair, black eyes, a brown shirt, black wristbands, shorts and shoes. "This hall is a place of relaxation! Not for you wenches to destroy with your petty squabbles!"

"Nice timing as usual, Jack." Zeke greeted as Natsu fist-bumped the shield-using boy.

"Hi." Alyssa greeted the oldest of the group.

"And hello to you too my friends." The boy looked and saw the egg. "I see you three have found quite the bounty."

"Yup, it's a dragon egg!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Fantastic, Sir Natsu! Are you planning on hatching it?" The three nodded in response. "Even more fantastic! A magnificent beast such as this will make a fine edition to our band of heroes!"

"Oh really? You guys? Heroes? Give me a break!" An angry Mirajane said as she got up and scowled at the new arrival. "You four couldn't save a cat!"

"Hold your tongue, demoness! You speak to next great hero of Fiore! For someday, the name Jackson Zephyr will be counted amongst the greats like Samuel, the Holy Knight!" The black-eyed boy proclaimed.

"Oh please. Samuel defeated Zeref! You only got lucky by blind sighting me!" Mirajane yelled as her magical energy started flowing. "You wouldn't last three seconds in a fair fight against me!"

"You would care to test that statement?" Jack said as he got into a fighting pose. However, Erza got back up and socked Mira in the jaw.

"Don't ignore me!" The redhead yelled as the two girls started fighting once again. Seeing that his challenger was gone, Jack sighed and placed his shield on his back.

"Those two never stop, do they?"

"Not really." The group turned and saw a young girl with short white hair and a pink dress approach them, the sight of which brought a slight blush to the young shield wizard's face.

"Lady Lisanna! How are you this fine day?" Jack asked in a much chipper move. The white-haired girl giggled at her friend's greeting.

"I'm great, thanks. But you don't have to keep calling me Lady Lisanna. Just Lisanna is fine."

"Um...well...it wouldn't be proper." The taller boy said with as he rubbed his head in embarrassment as his friends watched.

"Aw, you guys are so cute." Alyssa teased making Jack blush brighter and Lisanna blush a little.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about Lady Alyssa. There's nothing going on between me and Lady Lisanna!" Jack quickly replied as Lisanna pouted that he used the 'Lady' prefix again.

"Anyway, I was wondering if guys needed help raising that egg." Lisanna said to the others.

"You really want to help?" Natsu asked, getting a nod.

"I never tried raising a dragon. I bet it'll be real fun."

"Only one way to find out. First, we need to hatch it." Zeke stated.

"And how do you suppose we accomplish that, Sir Zeke?" Jack asked.

"I think you're suppose to warm it up." Lisanna said.

"Correct." Zeke said, not noticing the smirk on Natsu's face. "I guess I could try and put together a heat lamp and..." But he was interrupted as Natsu grabbed the egg and started breathing a torrent of fire on it. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Stop it, Natsu!" Alyssa said as she grabbed the egg in a burst of speed. "What were you thinking?"

"Ya, we're suppose to hatch the egg, not poach it." Lisanna chastised her salmon-haired friend.

"Sorry, but when I heard you guys say we needed to warm it up, I thought I could speed things up a bit." An apologetic Natsu said. Seeing this, Alyssa sighed as she walked towards the dragon-slayer.

"Look, I get that you were trying to help. But next time, just think a little bit before you do something reckless." The orange-haired girl said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll remember." Natsu replied with a smirk. As the two smiled at each other, Lisanna looked at the two and giggled.

"Alright, guys. Just sit back and let my magic handle this." Lisanna said as she held out her hand, a pink magic circle appearing. " _Take-Over: Animal Soul!_ " When the light faded, the group saw that Lisanna had transformed in a large green bird with pink feathers and clapped.

"Great idea!" Zeke said.

"So cool!" Alyssa cheered.

"Woah, you're a bird!" Natsu stated.

"Splendid! Absolutely splendid, Lady Lisanna!" Jack complemented as Lisanna wrapped the egg up in her wings.

"We're experts when it comes to hatching eggs."

Watching this, a young boy sighed and looked down with sadness, getting the attention of a nearby brunette girl.

"Elfman, what's the matter?" Cana asked.

"My little sister's perfected the Full-Body Take Over but I'm still having trouble with it. I'm a sucky wizard." The white-haired boy replied.

"Oh, I forgot you guys used the same magic."

"If I was as strong as her, I could turn into a bird and look for my parakeet."

"Parakeet?" The young girl asked.

"We used to be the best of friends, till he flew away." Elfman replied. "Man, I wish I had an egg to hatch like they do."

"Aw, come on, Elfman. Don't be such a sad sack." The white-haired boy turned as Gray took a seat next to him. "You'll probably find your bird one of these days. You just got to be patient."

Hearing this brought a small smile to the taller boy's face. "Thanks, Gray. By the way, you know you're still not wearing a shirt, right?"

"DAMN IT!"

A few minutes later, Natsu, Alyssa, Zeke, Jack and Lisanna traveled to the park as that seemed like better place to hatch the egg, the other four watching the egg as Lisanna keep it covered with her wings.

"You guys are starting make me nervous."

"I apologize." Jack replied.

"You sure it's gonna hatch if we sit like this?" Natsu asked as Zeke was taking notes. Lisanna nodded her head in response.

"It gets kind of boring though." After the Take-Over wizard said this, the group suddenly noticed the egg started to move. All of a sudden, it jumped up, knocking Lisanna back as it floated in the air.

"It's a cursed egg!" Jack screamed.

"Oh no!" Alyssa yelled.

"Calm down! I don't think it's cursed." Zeke said as he took some more notes, hiding the fact that he was freaking out inside.

"What's going on?" Natsu asked, taken by surprise as the egg landed in hands.

"Maybe it wants you to hold onto it." Alyssa reasoned.

"Really? Is that it, egg?" Natsu asked it. The egg tapped and moved in response. "Wow, that's so cool!"

"How is this possible?" Jack asked.

"It's probably like when a human baby kicks in their mother's stomach." Zeke reasoned, making the group look at him in surprise. "What? Didn't you guys know that human babies come from Moms?"

"How does that work?" Lisanna asked.

"Not sure. Dad said he'd tell me the rest of it when I got older."

"Well anyway, I'd don't we build a little place to keep the egg warm?" The white-haired girl suggested.

"You mean like a secret base?" Natsu asked in excitement.

"Sounds cool." Alyssa replied.

"Hear, hear!" Jack chimed in. A few minutes later, the kids arrived in the forest near Magnolia and Natsu quickly went to work on making a house of rocks, despite Zeke's protest.

"How about that? Is that the coolest house or what?" Natsu asked as he slammed the last stone into place. As if an answer to that, the cave-like house instantly collapsed on itself, harshing the dragon-slayer's spirits.

"Told ya that wouldn't work." Zeke said.

"You don't have to rub it in!" Natsu yelled as his friend. "I'd like to see you come up with something better!"

A smirk appeared on the brunette's face as he adjusted his glasses. "Challenge accepted!" He took out three pieces of paper and wrote on them before giving one to Natsu, Alyssa and Jack. "I'll need you three to fetch these materials." The three nodded and went off to collect them. "Lisanna, got a form that can build stuff?"

"Yup." The white-haired girl said as she cast her Take-Over magic again, this time transforming into a large purple bunny. "How's this?"

"Perfect!" Zeke said as he started drawing on another piece of paper. Soon the other three kids brought their materials and Zeke showed Lisanna the drawing he had made. In a few minutes, the Take-Over wizard finished building a small but sturdy straw hut and the five decided to check out the inside.

"It's actually pretty roomy." Natsu commented as they walked over the straw floor. Alyssa laid down and sighed.

"And it's comfy."

"You did a most excellent job, Lady Lisanna." Jack stated, making the white-haired girl blush at the complement but pout at the honorific.

"Good job team." Zeke said as the group relaxed for a bit until Lisanna piped up.

"You know, it's kind of like we're a family." She said, making the others look at her funny.

"What do you mean?" Alyssa asked.

"Well, you and Natsu are like the mommy and daddy, me, Zeke and Jack are the aunt and uncles, and the egg is like your baby that hasn't been born yet." After she said this, the orange-haired girl had a full-body blush while the salmon-haired boy felt his cheeks turn red.

"L-Lisanna, what are you saying?!" Alyssa yelled in embarrassment.

"A family?" Natsu said as he looked at Alyssa and then back to his friends. "You know, that doesn't sound half bad."

Hearing this made the orange-haired girl calm down a bit as their friends look on with knowing smiles, unaware that someone was watching them from a distance.

The next day, Natsu, Alyssa and Zeke showed Lisanna and Jack the tree were they had found the egg. However, their were spotted by a Gorian AKA a forest Vulcan. And those things tended to have a certain favorite food.

"Give me the egg!" The green & purple creature said with drool coming down his lips. The five kids took a stance as Natsu put the down behind him.

"You want this egg, you gotta go through me!" The boy yelled as he charged.

"Natsu, wait!" Alyssa yelled as Natsu started to punching the Gorian in the stomach, having little to no effect as it smacked the salmon-haired boy away. Seeing this made the small orange-haired girl scowl as she channeled her magic through her body and took off in a blast of speed. "You stupid monkey!" She yelled as she socked the forest vulcan in the nose, actually managing to harm and tick off the ape. The monster keep swinging, only for the tiny wizard to evade his blows.

"We have to help!" Zeke proclaimed as he conjured his bow.

"Agreed." Jack said as he drew his shield. "This foul beast must be stopped!"

"I can help too!" Lisanna said but was stopped by Jack's shield.

"Nay, Lady Lisanna. We need you to protect the egg. We'll handle the creature." Jack said with a confident smile. The Take-Over wizard looked in astonishment before nodded and taking the egg behind the tree.

"I won't lose to a monkey!" Natsu yelled as he got up and socked the forest vulcan with an ignited fist. However, this only pushed the vulcan back a bit.

" _Arch Shot: Arrow_!" Zeke yelled as her conjured a single arrow and fired, hitting the vulcan on the side as Jack jumped into the air.

" _Shield Crash!_ " The spiky-haired boy yelled as a yellow magic circle appeared behind him and he rocketed down, slamming the vulcan back a bit. " _Shield Bash!_ " Using his magic to increase the density of his shield, Jack smashed the vulcan in the stomach. "Comrades, don't let up! Keep attack!"

"You don't have tell me twice!" Natsu replied as he sucked in some air for his next attack. " _Fire Dragon Roar!_ "

" _Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!_ " Zeke yelled, the energy and fire attacks hitting the gorian and causing it to stagger as Alyssa came in for the final strike.

"Consider this a warning to the rest of your friends!  _Hundred-strike punch!_ " While normally Alyssa's small stature wouldn't do much, the damage from her friend's spells provided the tiny girl a chance to knock the monkey out.

"You did it!" Lisanna cheered as she out from the behind the tree, the egg safely with her. After that bit of excitement, the group decided to relax on the hill near their secret base as it started to rain, hurrying to the make sure the egg didn't get cold.

"Good thing we got here in time. The rain doesn't seem to be stopping." Zeke stated as the five sat in their little hut, Natsu keeping the egg warm with his body heat. Suddenly, the group heard Natsu's stomach growling.

"Sorry." The embarrassed dragon-slayer said.

"Hey Natsu, I was wondering something." Zeke said. "You live alone, right? So who cooks your meals for you?"

"I just eat at the guild."

"But doesn't that mean you pay for them?" Jack asked.

"Well ya. Why else would I work all the time?"

"Ah, that's sad." Lisanna chimed in, before getting a mischievous smirk on her face. "You know, I bet Alyssa wouldn't mind cooking dinner for you if you asked."

"Wha..." Alyssa said as her full-body blush came back.

"Woah! You can cook?" Natsu asked his orange-haired friend, making her blush some more as she twidled her fingers.

"Um...well...I'm mean...I can cook, but just not well." Hearing this made Natsu sigh.

"There you again, selling yourself short." The salmon-haired wizard said, making the girl look at him in confusion. "You say you're not a good wizard, but you were the one who knocked out that stupid vulcan. And your cooking probably tastes good too." He gave her a reassuring smirk, making the tiny girl calm down.

"Thanks, Natsu." The speed wizard replied.

"Ah, they looooove each other." Lisanna whispered to Jack and Zeke, making the two boys chuckle. As the day ended, the five decided to have a sleep-over (after Zeke had went and gotten permission from his parents) and formed a circle with the egg in the middle. However, the day came and...

"AHHH!" Natsu yelled, waking up the the rest of his friends. "THE EGG'S GONE!"

"WHAT?!" Alyssa yelled as she quickly looked through the shack. "Where is it?!"

The five kids quickly ran towards the guild, entering in a panic. "Alright, which one of you jerks stole my egg?!"

"Why would we want your dumb egg?" Gray asked.

"Laxus, did you take it?!" Natsu yelled at the teenage lightning wizard.

"Ya, right." The blond teen replied as he went back to ignoring everyone.

"Erza, you wouldn't happen to have seen the egg, right?" Alyssa said as she gave the redhead an accusing glare.

"Now, now. Don't jump to conclusions." The armored girl answered.

"Did you take it, Mira?" Lisanna asked her older sister.

"Oh course not." The demoness stated before turning towards Natsu. "You ate it, didn't you pinky?"

"That's it! You're going down!" The dragon-slayer yelled as he started to brawl with the older white-haired girl.

"Cease and desist!" Jack said as he jumped in between the two. "Brawling amongst ourselves won't help find our missing egg."

"It'll make me feel better." Natsu whispered.

"Aw, you're cute when you cry." Mirajane mocked the younger boy.

"I'm not crying!" The salmon-haired boy yelled.

"This isn't a joke, Mira!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"Well, well. Tiny finally gets some guts."

"Shut up!" The orange-haired girl replied.

"Poor egg." A sad Lisanna said.

"You know, I heard Elfman say that he wanted his own egg the other day." Cana stated, getting their attention.

"Really, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to steal an egg." Zeke said.

"Hey guys." The kids turned and saw the aforementioned Strauss sibling carrying the egg. "Sorry I caused trouble."

"So you stole the egg?" Lisanna asked.

"Well...you guys toss some much in your sleep, I was worried the it wouldn't get enough warmth." The tan boy explained, making the group look in surprise. "I'm not good with magic, but I figured I could at least help with the egg."

"You know, you could've just asked to help and then we could've avoided all this." Zeke said as the taller boy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Whatever. Thanks for watching after it." Natsu said as Elfman handed him the egg back.

"See? And you guys thought I stole it." Mira said.

"That's because it usually is your fault." Erza stated, making her rival scowl.

Suddenly, the egg started to crack, getting everyone's attention. The outer shell cracked and a blue ball of light moved above everyone. When it faded, everyone was shocked at what came out.

"It's a freakin' cat!" A surprised Lyle stated.

"Okay, not what I was expecting." Amelia said.

"Is it a bird?" A confused Jack asked as the tiny blue creature flew around.

"No, it's a...cat with wings." An equally confused Zeke stated. The wings on the kitten disappeared and it landed on Natsu's head, making Alyssa giggle.

"Aw, it's so cute." The tiny girl said. Natsu took the blue kitten off his head and held it in his arms, the cat purring.

"Happy little guy isn't he?" Lisanna said.

"Happy?" Natsu thought for a minute. "That's it! I'll call him Happy! Do you like that, little guy?"

"Aye!" The blue kitten said, making the guild smile.

"That settles it then! Happy the Dragon!" Natsu cheered.

"It's not a dragon you idiot!" Mirajane said. However, a nearby Reedus decided to paint Happy as a dragon anyway as he recorded this heartwarming moment.

_**Back in the present...** _

"Wow, that was a cute story." Lucy said, Mirajane having finished telling her and Alexander about how that painting was made.

"Hey, Mira. Could you help me with something?" The three looked up and saw Makarov.

"Sure thing master." The barmaid said as she left the archives, leaving the two Celestial Wizards looking at the painting. The two recognized most of their fellow Fairy Tail wizards in the painting except for two of them.

"I don't think I've seen Lisanna or Jack yet." Alexander stated.

"Ya. I mean if they're friends with Zeke and the others, you'd think we'd meet them by now." Lucy said, thinking about the enigmatic wizards.

Meanwhile, the familiar robbed figure known as Mystogan was walking on the outskirts of Magnolia, a bouquet of white Lily's in his hand. The covered wizard walked until he approached his destination. A shack that had collapsed from the passage of time, what looked like a memorial with the Fairy Tail mark on it and a rusted circular shield placed in front of it. He said nothing as he placed the bouquet on the stone, a single tear rolling down from one of his exposed eyes. He said a silent prayer and then left to be by himself, as he had been for the last few years.


	12. Phantom Strikes

_Chapter 12: Phantom Strikes_

"Another job well done." Zeke said he, Natsu, Alyssa, Lucy and Happy walked through Magnolia after having just returned from a mission.

"If by job well done you mean three buildings were destroyed, than yes." An exasperated Lucy stated.

"Hey, at least we didn't go completely overboard." Natsu retorted. "Besides, those buildings were empty."

"It still cost us 40% of the reward money!" Lucy shouted.

"Don't you still have part of the Galuna reward?" Happy asked the blonde.

"Yes, but that's beside the point." She replied. Alyssa then remembered something related to Galuna.

"Oh yeah. Lucy, have you made a contract with that spirit key yet?"

Hearing one of her favorite topics lightened up the blonde's spirit as she replied. "Yup, I made the contract with Sagittarius two days ago."

"Great. So what's he like?" Alyssa asked, resulting in Lucy sweat-dropping.

"He's a bit...weird."

"Aren't all Celestial Spirits weird in some way?" Zeke asked as he was drawing up some blue-prints in his notebook. "I mean Taurus is a huge pervert, Aquarius has a huge temper problem and Cancer says 'baby' at the end of every other sentence."

"Well...Sagittarius' weirdness is something you have see for yourself." Lucy replied. The celestial wizard then noticed the blue prints her friend was drawing. "Still working on that new bow?"

"Ya, but I'm having a bit of problem with the design. You see, I figured if I creating the bowstring out of Absorption Lacrima, it would save me precious time that I'd usually use to gather and create my arrows."

"Dude, that sounds awesome!" Natsu said.

"It does. But I'm trying to figure out how to alter the properties of my arrows without having to conjure it a certain shape." The archer explained.

"Did anyone understand that?" Happy asked, all this technical talk confusing the cat.

"Don't worry it, little guy." Alyssa said. As the group continued to walk through Magnolia, the five noticed the townspeople whispering and looking at them.

"Aren't those kids from Fairy Tail?"

"You think they know?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Have you guys noticed that everyone's looking at us?" Alyssa stated as the rest of Morningstar started to notice.

"That's never good." Happy said. Soon, the group reached a part of town where they could make out a bit of the guild hall from a distance.

"Is it me or does the guild hall look different?" Zeke asked. The team continued their trek until they stopped in front of the guild hall, utterly shocked by the sight.

Metal poles were coming out of the walls of the hall, covering the building completely and even the Fairy Tail sign and symbol was destroyed. Team Morningstar had different reactions to this. Zeke and Happy looked like they had seen the end of the world, Lucy looked at the destroyed building in fear, Alyssa looked as though she was about to break down, and Natsu growled like he was ready to murder someone.

"Who did this?" The dragon-slayer asked in rage. "Who did this to our guild hall?!"

"It was Phantom." The team turned around and saw a tearful Mirajane.

"Phantom did this?!" Zeke asked, his shock turning into anger.

A few minutes later, Mirajane brought Team Morningstar to the basement, where the rest of their fellow Fairy Tail wizards were, glum expressions on nearly all of their faces. Except for...

"Hey guys!" A drunk Makarov greeted them, Amelia and Lyle (who was holding a letter) looking on his disappointment in their master. "How was your mission?"

"Um, master? Did you not see all the giant metal poles sticking out of the guild?" Zeke asked.

"He did." Lyle replied. "And the second he did, he started drinking."

"Ah, come on! Lighten up Lyle!" The drunk older man said.

"Not all of us can drink our sorrow away." Amelia stated. "We're just lucky that no one was here when the guild was attacked."

"No one was here?" Lucy asked.

"They also left this taped to the front door." Lyle said as he pulled out his glasses and started reading it out loud.

_Dear Fairy Tail,_

_I wanted to leave you this friendly little letter inform of your imminent demise. If you're curious about why I would leave this letter after my friend wrecked up your guild hall, it is merely to instill as much fear as possible. As if basting a turkey. Which I will then proceed to have sex with._

_That's right._

_I'm going to f%*k the fear turkey._

_Hatefully yours, Robin Valalanca of the Unholy Trinity_

While Lucy was stunned by much an...odd letter, the rest of Morningstar just sighed with annoyance.

"I...I've got nothing to say." Zeke commented.

"I should've done something." The group turned and saw a depressed Alexander and his crew. "My ship is anchored right next to the guild. We heard something happening last night but by the time we scaled the cliff, the damage had been done."

Natsu scowled in anger. "If those Phantom jerks did this, then we gotta retaliate. Let's go smash their guild and see how they like it!"

"That's enough, Natsu!" Makarov said as he lengthened his arm to seemingly hit Natsu...only to pat Lucy on the ass, freaking the blonde out.

"What the hell was that for?!" She exclaimed as Amelia and Mirajane looked at the master in anger.

"Wasn't that Natsu?" The drunk man asked.

"So...you were going pat Natsu's ass?" Lyle said, not believing that Makarov was as drunk as he lead on.

"Moving on..." Erza said as she and her team walked forward. "We're not attacking Phantom Lord."

"What?! Are you kidding?!" Natsu yelled.

"Calm down, Flame Breath." Gray replied to his rival. "No one was hurt and the guild can be rebuilt."

"So we're supposed to just ignore the fact that Phantom wrecked our home?" Alyssa asked.

"I got to agree with Gray on this." Zeke said, getting his team's attention. "If we attack Phantom Lord, we'll be outnumbered and have to deal with the Element Four and the Unholy Trinity."

The rest of Fairy Tail almost shivered at the sound of those two groups, except for Lucy.

"Well then, until further notice, Fairy Tail is in a state of emergency." Amelia said as she took charge. "Phantom Lord might still have some stragglers in town and know where everyone lives. All teams are to remain together for extra security. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" The wizards replied, trusting in the experienced S-Class wizard's judgement.

"Looks like we'll need to stick together." Alyssa said. "But where should we stay? Fairy Hills won't allow any men in."

"And Lucy's apartment is too out in the open." Natsu stated, the blonde actually agreeing with her salmon-haired teammate. "How about your place, Zeke?"

"Sorry to disappoint you guys." Lyle said, cutting into their conversation. "But we don't have enough room for both Crosshair and Morningstar."

"Well then...to Team Morningstar Headquarters!" Zeke proclaimed.

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied.

"We have a headquarters?" Lucy asked.

**_And then..._ **

"Make yourselves at home!" Natsu and Happy said as the five of them entered Morningstar HQ AKA Natsu & Happy's cabin (after having stopped by their respective places and grabbed some supplies). To Lucy's surprise, the place was a lot cleaner than she thought it would be. "Feel free have anything in the Meatery. Except the duck. I'm saving it for a special occasion."

Zeke opened the meat locker and saw that it was chock full of every kind of meat you could buy at the deli. "Nice." He said as pulled out a chicken drum and went to the kitchen to cook it.

Lucy looked and saw a broad on the wall containing various job poster, including the Everlue, Galuna and various other job posters. "I can't believe you saved all of these."

"They're our precious memories of our team." Happy explained. Lucy turned and saw the maid outfit she wore for the Daybreak mission.

"But why did you have to keep that?" She asked, a wave of familiar shame coming from the memory of that mission.

"Come on, Lucy." Alyssa said. "It's a memento."

"But why does it look like it's been stretched out?" Lucy asked as she looked at the outfit, not seeing the slight blushes on Natsu and Alyssa's faces. "Oh well. Natsu, where's your shower?"

"We don't have one. But there are two lakes nearby." Natsu replied.

"You actually bathe in a lake?! You really are an animal!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Actually, it's a lot more fun than you'd think." Zeke replied as he finished cooking the chicken leg.

"Let's go!" Happy stated, grabbing his towel and some bathing supplies.

"You're serious?!"

"Don't be such a prude, Lucy." Natsu stated.

A few minutes later, the boys and girls split-up by gender and headed to a different lake each.

"Wow. So pretty." Lucy said as she looked at the lake shining in the moonlight.

"Yup. You can't get this kind of view in the shower." Alyssa said as she started taking off her gloves and booties. Lucy nodded and started to strip but stopped when she saw Alyssa's nude body.

'Woah! She looks more ripped naked!' Lucy thought, suddenly feeling very inadequate when compared to the orange-haired amazon.

"You alright?" Alyssa asked, noticing a gloom look on her friend's face.

Meanwhile, the guys were already soaking the lake, Happy using a scrubbing brush to clean himself.

"Ah." Zeke said as he relaxed into the lake while washing his hair. He turned and saw his best friend still having a scowl on his face. "Oh come on, Natsu. Are you mad about us not going after Phantom?"

"Actually, I'm more pissed that Gramps and everyone else is just accepting the fact the Phantom got the jump on us." The dragon-slayer replied as used a sponge to clean his arms.

"Staying angry isn't going to change a thing." Happy said to his father figure.

"He's right. Alexander and his crew are standing guard at the guild and everyone's staying in teams. If Phantom tries something again, they'll be in for big surprise." The brunette archer replied and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "So lighten up."

Hearing this did make the salmon-haired wizard relax a bit. "Alright."

Back to the girls, Lucy had asked Alyssa why most of the guild was against attacking Phantom Lord. Not only did the aforementioned guild outnumber Fairy Tail by a hundred members and two groups of S-Class wizards, but their master Jose was also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, meaning he was just as powerful as Master Makarov. Feeling the tension, the blonde decided to ask her taller friend a more light-hearted question.

"So Alyssa, how did you and Natsu start dating?"

"What brought that up?" Alyssa asked.

"Well no offense, but Natsu seems like the guy who would rather fight than go on a date." Lucy stated. "I guess you must've had to drag him to our first date."

"Actually, Natsu was the one who asked me out." The orange-haired woman replied, getting a surprised look from Lucy. Alyssa then started think to back that day. It started as an ordinary day and she was chatting with Lisanna. Then Natsu approached the two with a blush on his face as he looked her. And in typical Natsu fashion, he shouted what was on his mind before he thought it through.

_"A-Alyssa, I like you! Please go out with me!"_

While the budding amazon was extremely embarrassed by him shouting that out in front of the guild, she happily agreed to go on a date with him.

Meanwhile, Team Shadow Gear were walking through Magnolia, unaware that they were being watched by a young man and two women. The man had long spiky black hair, red eyes and metal studs in his face with a sleeveless black top, fingerless gloves, boots and grey pants. The older woman had pale blonde hair, black eyes, a light blue polo shirt, a black fedora with a white strip, dark jeans, dark blue gloves and tap shoes. The younger girl had a tomboyish-look with short green hair, blue eyes, a violet tracksuit with matching sneakers and elaborate rings on each finger and a chain with several other rings strapped to her right hip.

"Looks like we found some suckers." The tomboy said as she adjusted the ring on her thumb.

"Let's get this over with." The fedora-wearing woman chimed in as she looked at Shadow Gear like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

"No way! Gajeel got to wreck their guild and you left that dumbass letter! It's my turn now!"

"Go on, Moss Head." The pierced man said as he laid down with his arms behind his head, only to get a disappointed look from the older woman. "Robin, let her have her fun."

The gloved woman sighed. "Very well. Go ahead, Natalie."

"Yay! Time to f%$k 'em up!" The green-haired girl said as she leaped off the roof and a teal magic circle appeared over the ring on her right middle finger.

_**And then...** _

The next morning, a crowd of concerned people were looking at the tree in Magnolia Park. Team Morningstar saw this and walked through the crowd, seeing several of their fellow Fairy Tail members as they approached the tree, horrified at what they found.

Hanging and tied to the tree was the bruised and beaten trio of Team Shadow Gear.

"Levy!" Zeke cried out, seeing his attacked ex with the Phantom Lord mark painted on her stomach while Lucy and Happy started to tear up.

"Jet. Droy." Alyssa said in shock as Natsu looked up in anger.

"Phantom Lord's going to pay!" The dragon-slayer scowled as Alyssa got out of her shock and started helping her injured guildmates down gently, even as the rage inside her started to build.

In the crowd, Makarov passed through the crowd while wearing his Wizard Saint cloak. The old master stopped in near the tree, looking at the injured three like someone had ripped out his soul. "I can handle our guild being destroyed..." He said with a slow anger building in his voice. "...but I can't forgive them for harming my children!" He crushed the staff in his hands and magical energy started flowing out of him like crazy. "THIS MEANS WAR!"

A little later, Lucy (who was part of the group that opted to stay back while most of the guild went to Phantom Lord's HQ in Oak Town) was in the hospital, watching over the unconscious team.

"Droy. Jet. And even poor Levy." The blonde celestial wizard whispered. After the Changeling incident, Lucy and Levy had become better acquainted, Lucy even promising the petite wizard that she would be the first to read her novel when she was done.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Lord wizards were chilling out at the guild, laughing at the recent tragedies of their rival guild. Three of them were chatting about it even as they were heading out for a job.

Suddenly, the front doors exploded, sending the three Phantom Wizards flying into the Phantom Lord sign. The rest of the guild looked and saw a group of angry wizards at the door, the symbols on their bodies giving away who they were.

"Fairy Tail's come a knocking!" Makarov proclaimed as the two opposing forces stared each other down.

"Charge!" Lyle (who was now wearing two bracelets adorned with different-colored orbs) yelled as he and the rest of Fairy Tail did just that. Phantom Lord responded in kind and the guilds started their massive battle.

 _"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"_  Natsu yelled as he swung two arcs of fire.

" _Speed Queen: Tornado!_ " Alyssa exclaimed as she spun so fast it created a vortex that sucked in some enemies.

" _Arch Shot: Arrow Rain!_ " Zeke yelled as he fired a massive barrage of magical arrows.

" _Wood-Make: The Distance between the two lovers is forever!_ " Laki exclaimed as she created a barrage of wooden fists, surprising her enemies with both the spell and it's ludicrous name.

" _Guns Magic!_ " Alzack fired upon several Phantom Pain wizards with a set of pistols, a blue magic circle appearing whenever it hit and the they fell down. "How do you like my stun bullets?" One Phantom Pain wizard tried to attack from behind, only to be shot down by another magic bullet. Alzack turned and saw Bisca armed with a sniper rifle.

"Watch your back, Al." The green-haired sharpshooter said before she took aim again, a magic circler formed over her scope.

A trio of Phantom wizards armed with melee weapons charged at Lyle, but the bespectacled man just placed his left pointer and index finger on of the orbs on his right wristband, a red magic circle appearing in between. " _Absorption: Cobalt!_ " And just like that, Lyle's body changed into pure cobalt as the weapons swung by the enemy wizards broke, shocking them. "My turn." Lyle's hands then transformed into hammers and he swung, knocked the three away.

"T-That guy just turned into metal!" A shocked Phantom Pain wizard stated in fear.

"Did his arms become hammers?!"

"I've heard of this guy. He's Fairy Tail's Material Master, Lyle Hudson!" Another scarred enemy stated.

"Who cares?! Take him down!" One wizard yelled as he launched a lightning spell at the guy. However, Lyle saw this, shifted his hands back to normal and touched another orb.

" _Absorption: Stone!_ " The S-Class wizard chanted as his body shifted from cobalt to stone. As such, the lightning hit him but had no effect, scarring the crap out of the lightning wizard as he smirked. "Is that all you got?" He shifted his arm into a piston and charged, smashing the enemy wizard through a wall.

" _Ice-Make: Saucer/Rhino!_ " Gray & Ur yelled as they summoned their ice respective ice constructs that plowed through a group of enemies.

"I thought Fairy Tail only had one Ice Wizard!"

" _Card Magic: Lightning, Tower, Lovers!_ " Cana yelled as lightning struck her enemies. " _Chain Lightning!_ "

"MAN UP!" Elfman yelled his arm became lizard-like and he bashed some enemies. "Don't you wanna be a real man like me?!"

" _Open, Gate of the Tiger - Hu!"_  Alexander chanted, bringing the tiger spirit out. "Rip them apart!"

"With pleasure!" The brutish tiger replied as he charged magical energy into his claws. " _Tiger Claw Strike!_ " With a beastial roar, Hu swung his claws, knocking back several enemies with an energy claw swipe.

"Let's skin this cat!" A trio of wizards said as they surrounded Happy.

"Don't underestimate me!" The cat said as he took out some Lacrima bombs and tossed them. "I'm a wizard too!"

As the battle continued, the Unholy Trinity was watching from up in the rafters.

"Never thought Fairy Tail would actually nut up and attack us." Natalie commented as she watched Loki unleashed a tornado from one of his rings and sneered. 'Freakin' amature.'

"Well, we did give them plenty of reason to attack." Gajeel said as he watched Titania take out another group with her Black Wing Armor and Makarov stomping through and heading for Jose's office. A group of Phantom Lord wizards jumped at the old man, but were suddenly crushed when he grew to giant size, scaring the living crap out of them.

"Y-You're a monster!"

" _And you bastards hurt this monster's children_!"

Robin on the other hand was watching Zeke as he fired a drill arrow that shattered a rock wall.

'That guy's got magic arrows. And magic hands.' The fedora-wearing woman thought to herself with a perverted smirk. A yellow magic circle appeared on top of her gloves. "Well, looks like all of Fairy Tail's aces are here. So what do you say we have some fun?"

The other two nodded and the three jumped down. Natalie held out a her hand as her red ring started to glow and a teal magic circle appeared in front of her.  _"Explosion!"_

A few Fairy Tail wizards were blown back as the Trinity landed on their feet.

"It's the Unholy Trinity!" Max yelled.

"You fiends!" Erza yelled as she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor and conjured up several swords. " _Sword Spiral!_ "

While most enemies would be afraid of the incoming attack, Robin just smiled as she motioned her hands. " _Wire Slice!_ " Suddenly, all of the swords were sliced to pieces, shocking the less-experienced members of Fairy Tail. Zeke looked closely and saw very thin magically-enhanced yellow wires coming from her gloves.

'That must be Valelanca.' The archer thought to himself.

"Looks like our reputation proceeds us." The fedora-wearing woman said, only to see Natsu charge with his flaming fists as Natalie quickly raised her left hand.

" _Defend_!" A teal magic circle appeared in front of Robin as Natsu's flaming fists clashed with it, the dragon-slayer having anger on his face.

"YOU'RE THE ONES WHO HURT OUR FRIENDS!" The salmon-haired wizard roared. " _Fire Dragon Flame Elbow!_ " The flames bursting from his elbow gave Natsu the extra push to shatter the barrier and the Trinity dodged it.

"So you're Salamander, huh?" Gajeel said as he conjured up a clear magic circle. " _Iron Dragon Club!"_  His hand transformed into a club and launched it at Natsu, only to be caught by the still stone Lyle.

"You're Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer." The Absorption Wizard said as he glared at the trinity. "I'm going to make you pay for destroying our guild."

"Oh, please. An old man like you can't beat me." The cocky dragon-slayer retorted.

"You think so, huh?" Lyle said as he held the dragon-slayer's club. A red magic circle in between his palms and the iron club. "Let's test that theory.  _Absorption: Iron!_ " Suddenly, the older wizard's skin started to transform into the same material as the club, pushing Gajeel back. The now iron wizard hands transformed into anvils. He charged and smacked the iron dragon-slayer into a wall, shocking the other Phantom Lord members. However, the pierced young man just got back up and smirked.

"For an S-Class Wizard, you're pretty stupid." The pierced man said as he showed his fangs. "Dragon-Slayers can eat their element, dip shit. You just turned yourself into a big snack for me!" Gajeel yelled and leaped at Lyle. However, the bespectacled man quickly tapped one of the orbs on his left wristband.

" _Absorption: Gold!_ " And just like that, Lyle's skin turned gold as Gajeel chomped down. The younger wizard then howled back in pain, blood coming from his mouth as he swore, making the Absorption Wizard smirk. "Looks like my theory was correct. Iron is the only metal you can consume."

"%&(# you, old timer!" Gajeel swore as he spit out some blood. "I'll still smash to bits!" He proclaimed as he sucked in some air. " _Iron Dragon Roar!_ "

The metal-laced breath attack launched and hit the golden man, however he was still standing after the attack. "My turn!" Spikes appeared from his ankles and pierced into the floor as a large cannon morphed onto Lyle's chest. " _Gold Cannon!_ " He yelled as a golden cannonball launched from his chest and hit Gajeel, causing a massive explosion.

"Gajeel!" Natalie and Robin yelled in concern and the green-haired woman raised her hand above her. " _Big!_ " A teal magic circle appeared and Natalie shoved her hand through, creating a gigantic version of her forearm.

"That's the master's magic!" Cana yelled as Natalie brought her gigantic hand down, Lyle struggling against it.

"Dad!" Zeke yelled as he conjured up several magic arrows and loaded them into his longbow. " _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ " However, the energy arrows were sliced apart by Robin's magic wire, the two Holder-type wizards turning and looking at each other.

"Hm. You're pretty cute. I might keep you for myself." The Wire Wizard said, causing a shiver to run down Zeke's spine as he conjured up more magical energy.

"How about no?  _Arch Shot: Arrow Rain!_ " Zeke yelled as fired a massive barrage of arrows.

" _Wire Spiral!_ " Robin yelled as she swung her magical wires with lightning speed, slicing up all of the arrows.

'Something's not right.' Erza thought to herself as Natsu and Gajeel (who had recovered from Lyle's attack) started fighting each other with their respective dragon-slayer magic and Lyle pushed Natalie's giant hand off as it dissipated. 'We haven't seen any of the Element 4.'

Back in Magnolia, Lucy had gotten lunch for the injured trio until she noticed a sudden and unexpected change in the weather as it started to rain.

"Drip, drop, drip, drop." Lucy turned and saw a pale blue-haired woman in blue clothing, a matching hat and a pink umbrella with hearts on it. "Juvia is a rain woman. Drip, Drop."

"Huh?" Lucy asked in confusion as the woman walked towards her. "Who are you?"

"I had a fun time. Farewell." The blue-haired woman said walking past her, confusing Lucy even more.

"Non, non, non!" A voice said as the street next to shifted into a skinny man with a brown suit and monocle. "You shouldn't walk away from your job, Lady Juvia. I believe this young lady here is our cible."

Lucy tensed up, understanding that Cible was another word for target.

"Forgive us for the late introduction." Another man coming out of a nearby ally said. He had black & white hair, marks on his face, and a red ninja-themed attire with a sheathed katana strapped to his side. "I am Totomaru of the Element 4. All flames in this world submit to me."

"I am Sol of the Earth. But you may call me Monsieur Sol." The skinny man stated.

"Juvia is also a member of the Element 4 who brings the rain."

Lucy scowled as she stepped back, recognizing the name of Phantom Lord's ace wizards and grabbed her keys. "Phantom Lord...you're the ones who hurt Levy and her team!" But before she could summon any of her spirits, Lucy was consumed in a sphere of water.

"Non, non, non. I'd like to clear up that misunderstanding with three nons. Wrecking your guild and attacking your comrades were all done by the Unholy Trinity, not us." Sol said as he twirled his mustache.

"But it was a unanimous decision by our guild." Totomaru stated.

"What is this?" Lucy asked as she felt the air leaving her lungs. "Let me out!"

"My water lock is unbreakable." Juvia said as she held out her hand. "But don't worry, I won't kill you Lucy Heartfilia. That's not our job."

" _Purple Shower!_ "

" _Smoke Bomb!_ "

" _Arch Shot: Machine Gun Arrow!"_

The three Phantom Lord wizards were forced to evade as a ball of exploding smoke and barrages of purple fire and energy arrows. This distraction broke Juvia's concentration, making her water lock disappear and Lucy quickly sucked in some air. The four looked up at a nearby rooftop and saw Macao, Wakaba and Amelia (who was holding a two-handed emerald & silver crossbow), all of them having anger on their faces.

"So wrecking our guild and sending three of our comrades wasn't enough. Now you're kidnapping one of our friends." Amelia said with a scowl.

"Just goes to show you how low Phantom Lord's willing to sink." Macao said as he cracked his knuckles.

"You disgust me." Wakaba said as smoke from his pipe formed into the words 'You're dead.'

"Amelia! Macao! Wakaba!" Lucy said with glee.

"Amelia?!" The three Phantom Lord wizards asked, recognizing the name of Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard.

"I'm giving you three one chance. Surrender or we'll kick your asses all the way back to Oak Town." The strawberry-blonde wizard said as she aimed her crossbow at them.

"Sorry, but we can't leave without Ms. Heartfilia." Juvia said as she launched a stream of pressurized water at the three, only for Team Crosshair to dodge.

"Lady Juvia is right!" Sol said as a brown magic circle appeared under him. " _Earth Fist!_ " A giant fist formed out of the road and launched at the airborne Fairy Tail wizards.

" _Purple Saw!"_  Macao chanted and launched a flaming buzzsaw that sliced through the giant fist. He then created a large fire hammer in his hands. "You'll have to do better than that!  _Purple Hammer!_ "

But as he brought the hammer down, Totomaru smirked as his eyes glowed. Suddenly, Macao's hammer curved and the Purple Flare Wizard landed in shock. "Like I said, all fire in this world submits to me." The ninja-like wizard stated as he pulled out his katana.

"Then try this!  _Smoke Blast!_ " Wakaba exclaimed as he launched a pressurized burst of smoke that the dual-haired ninja channeled orange fire around his katana. He swung his sword, dissipating the smoke.

" _Earth Wave!_ " Sol exclaimed as he placed his hand on the street and created a wave of rubble that launched at the Fairy Tail trio. However, Amelia placed her non-trigger holding hand on the mana-absorption Lacrima embedded in her crossbow as she aimed and created five magic circles in a cross formation.

" _Arch Shot: Tracer Arrows!_ " An arrow was launched out of each of the circles and they swerved around the rocky wave, shocking Sol as the energy arrows hit him straight on. Amelia then raised the crossbow up as another circle appeared.  _"Arch Shot: Sphere Arrow!_ " She pulled the trigger and launched a magic arrow into the air that turned in an energy orb. The orb then exploded into a massive barrage of arrows that the Element 3 out of 4 barely managed to evade, a few of the arrows piercing Juvia who quickly reformed herself before the Fairy Tail wizards could notice.

"Guys, I think we're outmatched!" Totomaru said. "Juvia!"

"On it!" Juvia and Totomaru launched their respective magics, combining them into a smokescreen that allowed them to the three Phantom Lord wizards to escape. Wakaba used his pipe to absorb the smoke, relieved that the three enemy wizards were gone.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Macao asked the blonde celestial wizard.

"Ya, I'm fine. But you guys were amazing." She said before thinking back to what Sol had said earlier. "Those guys said I was their target."

"Huh? But why would they be after you?" Wakaba asked.

"Is there something you're not telling us, Lucy?" Amelia asked as she dismissed her crossbow back into her pendant. The blonde started rubbing her chin in contemplation, trying think about why Phantom Lord would try to abduct her. To her knowledge she had never meet a member of Phantom Lord until today so a personal vendetta seemed unlikely. She didn't own any valuable artifacts aside from her Gate Keys. So she reasoned that someone was paying the enemy guild after her. And their was only one person she knew who had enough money and would send a guild after her, which made her stomach churn.

"It's only a hunch, but I think I know who's behind this." Lucy said as she started to shake. "My father...Jude Heartfilia."

Back in Oak Town, Makarov smashed down the doors to Jose's office. "What the hell do you're think you're doing attacking Fairy Tail?! Answer me, Jose Porla?!"

The man in question was an older gentleman with dark red hair and purple wizard clothing. "That was a very expensive door." He said as he felt the shake from the two guilds fighting. "Your wizards do take after you, despite all your complaining at the conferences. It's been a long time since I've been to one. I really made a fool of myself last time. But then I can't hold my alcohol like you can."

"I'm not here for small talk!" Makarov yelled as his arm grew to giant size and he smashed up most of the room and the chair Jose was sitting in.

"Oh my." The short Fairy Tail looked in shock as Jose's image started to break a bit.

"A projection?!"

"A battle between two Wizard Saints would be quite the calamity." The projection of Jose stated before frowning. "I would've preferred a more rational victory, but it seems Mrs. Hudson lives up to all the rumors."

"What are you talking about?! Come out and fight me, you coward!" Makarov yelled as energy surrounded him. Suddenly, a large man with covered eyes appeared behind him as the air started to pick up.

"So sorrowful!" The man cried as he placed his hands around Makarov. Much to the older wizard's shock, he started to feel his magic being drained as Jose started to laugh.

"Well, I might not have Ms. Hearfilia, but at least the great Makarov will no longer be a threat." The projection said before fading as Makarov continued to scream in agony as his magic continued to be forcefully drained.

"It's too sorrowful!" The blinded man said as he blasted the now weakened Makarov through the wall. The combating wizards heard and turned their heads, the Fairy Tail wizards looking in fear.

"Master!" Lyle shouted as he jumped and caught the tiny man. "What happened?!"

"M...my magic..." Makarov groaned. "I can't...I can't feel my magic."

"Why does Master just feel like a regular old man now?" Elfman asked in concern.

"What happened?" Alyssa asked in concern. All around the guild, the Fairy Tail wizards to lose their morale at their master's defeat.

'This is bad.' Zeke thought to himself as he continued to evade Robin Magic Wires. 'With Master down, we're at a huge disadvantage.'

"What did you bastards do to Gramps?!" Natsu yelled at Gajeel as he evaded another club attack.

"Looks like Aria did his job." Natalie said as she held out a yellow ring. "Time to bring in the cavalry.  _Copy!_ " A magic circle moved down the tracksuit-wearing wizard, creating another Natalie. The two then repeated the spell until their were twenty Natalies that all held out their hands. "Bye-bye, Fairy Tail!  _Explosion!_ "

A massive blast of magical energy blasted the Fairy Tail wizards back, Lyle's golden form protecting the weakened Makarov. He opened his eyes and saw his injured comrades struggle to stand back up, swallowing hard at the sudden turn of events.

"Everyone, full retreat!" The Absorption wizard ordered.

"Are you kid..."

"This isn't up for debate, Natsu! We're leaving right now!" Lyle said as he held out his hand. "We need to leave, now!"

"Leave it to me!  _Ice-Make: Rampart!_ " Ur exclaimed as she created a massive wall of durable ice to separate the two sides. However, the Ice master knew the barrier wouldn't last forever as entirety of Phantom Lord started tried to smash through. "Let's go!"

Despite the complaints that a lot of them could keep fighting, the Fairy Tail wizards reluctantly agreed and ran out of the guild.

"Leaving already?" Gajeel sighed as Aria landed near him.

"It's so sad!" Aria of the wind cried out.

"Aria, will you please stop doing that?" The Iron Dragon-Slayer said as the rest of Phantom Lord broke down a part of the ice wall. "I'm surprised you managed to put down that old geezer."

"It was all part of Master Jose's plan. All I had to do was follow it to the letter. But still, thank you for your kind words!" The blinded man said as he continued to cry some more.

"Will you stop crying all the time?! You're a grown man for f&^k's sake!" Natalie said as her doubles disappeared.

"Did we capture the target?" Robin asked as she dusted off her fedora.

"I'm afraid not! My fellow Element 4 were ambushed by Amelia Hudson and two other Fairy Tail wizards!" Aria cried out, making the Unholy Trinity scowl in both disappointed at the news and annoyance at the larger man's continued crying.

"The master's gonna be pissed." Gajeel said as he looked at the falling ice wall. "On the other hand, this means we get another crack at Fairy Tail."

Hearing this made the two ladies of the Trinity smirk along with their male teammate. This battle was over, the war was not even close to ending.

_To be continued..._


	13. Elemental Massacre

_Chapter 13: Elemental Massacre_

Things were solemn at the Fairy Tail Guild. The members who attacked Phantom Lord were having their injures treated while Makarov was left in the care of Porlyusica, a reclusive ally and medicine woman who lived in the East Forrest. In the meantime, Fairy Tail was attempting to recall all the members on active missions back to the guild. However, Laxus and his team were difficult due to Laxus being...Laxus.

Zeke on the other hand was currently in his room, explaining the situation to Mystogan via a communication lacrima.

"So long story short, we need you to come back to the guild. And this time you can't put a sleeping spell on everyone." When he got nothing but silence, the archer just scowled. "Look man, I know you're still hurting about what happened to Lisanna, but right now we really need you!"

Mystogan looked at his fellow guildmate before nodding.  _"I'll see what I can do."_

"I'll take that as a yes." Zeke said as he ended the call. He turned and saw the picture of him and his friends as children and sighed before grabbing his pendant and heading for the guild. He eventually reached it and was surprised to see Lucy on the verge of tears with Alyssa putting a comforting hand on her shoulder while Natsu, Happy & Alexander looked on concern. "What's going on?"

Lucy explained about how she was the daughter of the businessman Jude Heartfilia. About a few months ago, Lucy decided to run away from home when he tried to force her into an arranged marriage just to gain a partnership with a railroad tycoon, regardless of her objections. Tired of being considered a pawn of his, the blonde heiress decided to pursue her lifelong dream of being a guild wizard, roaming around until she came across Team Morningstar in Hargeon.

"If I didn't run away, Levy and her team wouldn't be in hospital, Master wouldn't be near death and your guys.." However, she was silenced as Alyssa gave her a comforting hug.

"Don't blame yourself Lucy." The amazonian woman said as she comforted her friend.

"Ya, if it's anyone's fault, it's your dad for hiring those Phantom jerks." Natsu stated.

"Aye." Happy replied with a nod.

"They're right." The team turned and saw Amelia and Lyle looking at them. "Nothing good comes from placing blame on yourself. You're not the one who hurt our comrades, so you shouldn't feel like this is your fault."

Water started to form in Lucy's eyes from the words of her friends and her idol. However, the guild started to shake as if an earthquake were occurring.

"What was that?!" Gray asked.

"Everyone!" The guild turned and saw Alzack on the stairway with a panicked look on his face. "You gotta come outside and see this!"

The Fairy Tail members did just that and exited towards the cliffside of the guild hall. What they saw freaked them out and caused a few of their jaws to drop.

"What the hell is that?!" Elfman yelled.

"It's huge!" Alyssa shouted.

"By the Celestial King." Alexander said with his eye widened in shock.

"Oh just f*&cking balls!" Natsu & Zeke yelled.

"It's a walking guild hall!" Happy shouted. And indeed, the massive structure marching towards Fairy Tail from the sea was the main Phantom Lord castle headquarters with large mechanical arms and legs.

"Is that Phantom?" A nervous Macao asked.

"You gotta be kidding me! How're we supposed to fight something like that?" Wakaba yelled.

"I never imagined they would attack us with such extremes!" A towel-clad Erza stated.

"I've heard rumors about this...thing." Amelia said, getting everyone's attention. "It's Phantom Lord's secret weapon; the Super Mage Giant Phantom Mk-II. And if the rumors were true..."

But the conversation was stopped as the castle gate and revealed a colossal cannon pointed right at them.

"Everybody, get down!" Erza ordered as she ran ahead. " _Requip: Adamantine Armor!_ " In a flash of light, the redhead was now adorned in a dark blue & white armor armed with two large shields on the gauntlets. She slammed the two halves together to form a complete shield which in turn created a massive magic circle in front of her. "I won't let you destroy out guild!"

"Is she serious?!" Zeke asked as Alyssa looked on at her rival with concern. But as everyone's attention was drawn ahead, nobody noticed a certain cloaked wizard holding a circular cobalt shield.

"Gray, let's back her up!" Ur yelled as she started gathering magical energy around her.

"Got it!" Gray responded to his master as they both got into the same pose.

" _Ice Make: Rampart!_ " The two spells converged and created a massive wall of ice in front of Erza.

"I'll help too!" Lyle said as he placed his fingers on his bracelet. " _Absorption: Gold!_ " As soon as he body turned to gold, he created a wall of gold behind the Ice Rampart and separated from it just as the massive cannon fired.

The combined Ice Rampart managed hold the blast for a bit until it cracked and started barraging the gold wall. But the golden wall soon reached its melting point and blasted through, hitting Erza's magic barrier and causing the Requip Wizard to grit her teeth as she held the blast back. Cracks started appearing in her armor until the blast faded. With a slight smile on her face, Erza's requipped back into her Heart-Cruz armor and fainted, caught by Alyssa.

"Nice job, Tin Can." Alyssa said with a smile of her own.

"VERY IMPRESSIVE FAIRY TAIL." Jose's voice boomed over the magical speaker system. "BUT EVEN IF YOU MANAGED TO BLOCK THE FIRST BLAST, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO STOP ANOTHER. SO HAND OVER LUCY HEARTFILIA OR I SHALL BLOW YOU ALL TO KINGDOM COME!"

"You're out of your mind if you think that's gonna happen!" Alzack shouted as he requipped his twin pistols.

"You think we'd just surrender our friend!?" Bisca said alongside her partner.

"I don't sell out my comrades and neither does my crew!" Alexander proclaimed.

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Marianne & the Star Liberators replied.

"Lucy's not going anywhere! She's one of us and that's how it's going to stay!" Macao shouted as most of the guild said their own piece. Hearing all this made Lucy's eyes start to tear up.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! I WON'T ASK AGAIN!"

The blonde Celestial wizard started to shake as she remembered what had happened to the guild, Team Shadow Gear and Makarov. 'I...I should just give myself up...I don't want anyone to suffer because of me...'

"If you want Lucy, you'll have to go through us!" Zeke yelled as he summoned his longbow.

"That's right! We'd rather die than give up one of our friends!" Alyssa shouted as her magical energy started to form around her.

"Our answer isn't going to change no matter what! So shut the hell up!" Natsu yelled as he pointed at the walking guild.

Hearing her team, her friends saying this brought tears to her eyes and she covered her mouth. 'Everyone...thank you!'

Amelia conjured up her crossbow as she glared at the Giant Phantom. "You heard us, Jose. And now we're going to take you Phantom bastards down!"

"TAKE US DOWN? IN THAT CASE, I'LL HAVE TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW POWERLESS YOU LOT TRULY ARE!" Jose replied. "THE NEXT BLAST OF THE JUPITER CANNON WILL RAIN HELL UPON YOU WITH EVEN MORE POWER! SO SAVOR THE NEXT FIFTEEN MINUTES OF YOUR LIVES BECAUSE THEY WILL BE YOUR LAST!"

"Shit!" Elfman scowled.

"They're going to fire it again so soon?!" Loki said with sweat running down his forehead.

"It took Erza, Gray, Ur and Myself to stop it. I don't think we'll be able to do that again." Lyle stated with a frown until he saw a swarm of ghost-like creatures emerging from the castle and heading towards them. "Heads up! We got Shade soldiers coming in!"

"Oh great. So if the shades don't rip us to shreds, the giant cannon will finish the job." Wakaba groaned.

"Then we'll have to destroy the Jupiter Cannon before it fires again." Amelia stated before turning to her guildmates. "We'll have to split into two teams. While the majority us ward off the shades, we'll send another team in to destroy the cannon."

"And if the stealth team fails?" Cana asked.

"I got this." Alexander chimed in before turning to his crew. "Prepare the Jabberwocky for combat! If we can't destroy the cannon, we can at least knock it off course by blowing its legs off."

The crew nodded, heading towards the anchored ship with their captain.

"Good we have a backup plan. And as for the team, it'll consist of myself, Lyle, Gray, Elfman, Zeke, Natsu, Alyssa & Happy. Macao, Ur, think you two can lead the ground forces hear."

Macao gave a thumbs up and Ur smirked. "Leave to us. And good luck up there, Gray."

Gray nodded to his master. "No problem." He turned to Cana and Elfman saw his teammates looking at each other with slight concern.

"Don't worry. Team Maelstrom will be back together before you know it!" The tall man stated, making his teammates look at him.

"Maelstrom?" Cana asked.

"Alright, let's do this!" Natsu yelled as the eight wizards ran towards the cliff. "Gray!"

"On it!  _Ice Make: Stairs!_ " The Ice Wizard yelled as he slammed his hands against the ground, creating a large flight of stairs that the Moringstar/Cross Hair/Maelstrom team climbed up until they were standing the barrel of the cannon.

"Not the safest place to start, but it'll do." Alyssa said as the group moved on ahead, reaching a room with a giant Lacrima in the center with a giant timer above it.

"That must be the power source." Zeke reasoned.

"Whoa, now that's one big lacrima!" Happy commented.

"I don't care how big it is! It's no match for a real man!" Elfman yelled as his arm was transformed into his Iron Bull arm.

"Wait, this seems way to easy." Amelia said. As if an answer, the group was forced to evade a large wave of orange fire and they turned, seeing Totomaru with his sword drawn out.

"We meet again."

"Totomaru." Amelia said.

"I don't care who you are! Anyone who stands in our way is going down!" Natsu yelled, leaping at the ninja-themed wizard with his fists on fire. However, Totomaru's eyes glowed and suddenly the dragon-slayer was punched in the face with his own ignited fist.

"Probable should've mentioned that he can control all fire magic." The green & white clad archer stated with a sweat drop.

"Oh come on!" The salmon-haired wizard said. Totomaru jumped with his sword out, but Alyssa dashed forward and caught the blade in between her palms.

"I got this guy! Destroy the lacrima!" The orange-haired woman said as the two jumped away from each other.

"It doesn't matter if you destroy the lacrima! The Jupiter Cannon is tied to the power of Elemental Four. As long as even one of us stands, the cannon will still fire!" Totomaru gloated.

"Looks like it's divide and conquer." Zeke said.

"You'll have to get past me first!" The black & white haired wizard said as he launched another barrage of orange fire. Alyssa and Natsu evaded the attacks, the amazonian woman quickly put on her purple arm guards. "I'll handle Mr. Samurai! You guys go after the rest of the Element Four."

Natsu and Happy nodded before leaving the room with the others.

"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish." Totomaru stated as he covered his sword in blue fire.

"I've heard people call me both." Alyssa said as she cracked her knuckles. Totomaru unleashed another barrage of fire, which Alyssa evaded with ease. "Come on, you call that fire? My boyfriend's flames are hotter than that!"

Hearing this made the ninja-themed wizard scowl and he charged at his amazonian foe. But his swings were deflected by Alyssa using her arm guards to block the strikes.

"My turn!  _Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!_ " Before Totomaru could react, he was punched a hundred times and knocked back. Taking this chance, Alyssa faced down the giant lacrima and gathered vibrational energy in between her palms.

" _Speed Queen: Vibration Blast!_ " The orange-haired woman tossed the blast, creating a tiny crack in the massive crystal. "Looks like I might be at this for a while."

_**Back at the ground battle...** _

"No way!" Lucy yelled at Mirajane. As the rest of their guildmates battled against the shade army, Mirajane suggested that Lucy should be taken to one of Fairy Tail's safehouses while the barmaid used her transformation magic, distracting Jose by transforming herself into Lucy.

"This is for your safety."

"Everyone's putting their lives on the line because of me! You can't expect me to just sit around and do nothing!" The blonde wizard replied.

"But..."

"This argument is pointless." The two woman turned and saw a familiar cloaked figure walking towards them. Mirajane gasped at the sight of the man.

"Mystogan."

"That's Mystogan?" Lucy said, surprised at the sight of one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards.

"If she wants to fight alongside her comrades, that is her decision." The cloaked man said, turning his eyes towards the blonde. "Is fighting with us what your heart truly desires?"

Lucy looked at the man before a determined expression appeared on her face and she nodded. "I'm proud to be a Fairy Tail wizard. If they'll fight for me, then I'll fight for them."

Underneath his clothing, Mystogan smiled. "Very well then." He grabbed the handle on his back and pulled out his sword, revealing a blade of black metal. "Let us vanquish our enemies."

"Right." Lucy said with a nod, pulling out one of her spirit keys and the two charged ahead to join the battle, Mirajane looking on in astonishment.

'He actually came to fight with us.'

"Don't let them through!  _Ice Make: Spikes!_ " Ur chanted, creating spiky pillars that impaled and destroyed several Shades. Another wave were about to attack from above until...

" _Sword Art: Crescent Slash!_ " A yellow crescent wave destroyed the shades, making the Fairy Tail wizards turn and look in shock, seeing Mystogan and Lucy, the former having drawn his sword.

"Is that Mystogan?!" Max yelled.

"He's actually here?" Cana asked.

"Lady Heartfilia, if you want to join in, now would be the opportune moment." Mystogan stated.

"Got ya!  _Open - Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!_ " Out of the gate came a man dressed in a rather odd horse costume and a bow & arrow.

"Miss Lucy, how may I be of service?" The archer spirit asked with a salute.

"I need your help taking down these shade creatures." The blonde explained.

"Very well." The spirit loaded his bow with some arrows and fired, destroying three shades. Underneath his cloths, Mystogan gave a smile at the sight of the new spirit.

'It seems to be my fate to fight alongside an archer.' He thought to himself before his blade glowed with a yellow aura, taking a combat stance as he stared down some oncoming shades. "Now then, have at you!"

In one of the castle corridors, Elfman was searching through his part as the team had split up to quickly find the Element 4. The white-haired man stopped when he felt a magic aura behind him and turned, seeing a man form out of the floor.

"Salut!" Sol greeted as he swayed.

Elfman glared at the weird lanky man as he took off his jacket, getting the feeling that this was going to be a tough fight. "You're one of the Element 4, aren't you?"

"Correct! My name is Sol. But you may call me Monsieur Sol."

"Perfect timing! All I have to do is kick your ass and the Jupiter Cannon will lose most of its power.  _Beast Arm: Black Bull!_ " Elfman chanted, transforming his arm into a bestial form.

"Oh? Do you honestly think transforming only your right arm will give you a fighting chance against me? It seems the rumors about you were true." Sol said as he evaded a punch from Elfman that shattered the floor underneath.

"Shut up! A real man doesn't care about rumors!" The Take Over Wizard yelled as the thin man keep evading his punches.

"I know all about you...or rather, I know many details when it comes to the wizards of Fairy Tail."

"Do you ever stop talking?!" Elfman threw another punch but the lanky wizard just jumped over and landed, staring straight at him.

"I believe you used to have a little sister, right?" Sol said, surprising Elfman and giving the lanky man a chance to cast a spell. " _Sable Dance!_ "

The white-haired wizard was forced to cover his eyes as a sandstorm manifested around him.

" _Roche Concerto!_ " Sol yelled out and a barrage of rock pelted Elfman from below, making the massive man scowl. "If I recall correctly, you attempted to perform a Full-Body Take Over a few years back. But it went wrong and went berserk. So your darling little sister gave her life to stop you from going on a rampage."

In front of Elfman, the ground started to morph, transforming into statues of Lisanna, each of them with a scared expression on their face. Seeing this made the Take Over wizard moved his head down, obscuring his eyes as Sol prepared another attack.

"And the trauma from her death has resulted in you never using the Full-Body Take Over again." Sol said as the floor beneath him started to move. "You keep on boasting about being a real man, but it's just a cover to hide how weak you really are! Someone who killed his own baby sister has no right to speak of such things. So as a gentleman, I shall end you with my most powerful attack to show you what a real man is capable of.  _Platre Sonata!_ "

As Sol finished his speech, a massive fist appeared and moved towards his taller opponent. However, instead of being sent flying, Elfman stopped the massive fist with his Beast Arm, making the monocle-wearing chap widen his eyes in shock.

"Is that your game plan?" Elfman said, his usual boisterous nature no longer there as he held back the massive earth fist. "Taunting me with what I already know? I know that my sister died because I was reckless. I know that it's my fault. Do you honestly think you can say anything to me that I haven't already said to myself." The white-haired wizard lifted his head, giving Sol a glare that terrified him. Purple magical energy started appearing around Elfman as cracks started appearing on the fist. "Here's a little lesson about being a real man. A real man acknowledges his mistakes but doesn't let them define him! He uses them to improve himself and make sure to never repeat that mistake!"

With a clench of his fist, the Platre Sonata shattered. A purple magic circle appeared over Elfman as he started pumping his magical energy all throughout his body.

" _Take-Over: Beast Soul!_ " With a powerful yell, the magic circle came down, engulfing Elfman in a blinding light.

'He's actually using a Full-Body Take Over?!' Sol thought himself as he covered his eyes. When he opened them, he gasped as he saw that the wizard in front of him had transformed into the same beast that had lead to Lisanna's death.

"Still think I'm weak? Then try this!" Before Sol could react, the now fully-transformed Elfman charged and unleashed a powerful & massive punch, causing a crater to appear as the skinny man landed. The monstrous wizard roared as he threw in some more punches for good measure, creating more cracks in the floor. When he was finished, Sol was lying unconscious in the crater, smoke coming from his wounds. With another roar, Elfman's body glowed and he transformed back into his normal form, glaring at the knocked out Phantom Lord wizard. "Now that's what a real man is capable of."

Meanwhile, Zeke was running through the halls of the mobile fortress, looking for one of the Element 4. Deciding to get a bird's eye view, he exited onto the top of one of the arms. What he saw was terrifying as the arms were slowing drawing a giant magic circle in the air in front of it. 'That's a goddamn Abyss Break circle! At that size, it'll destroy all of Magnolia along with us! Is Phantom that desperate?!'

But much to the archer's surprise, storm clouds suddenly appeared overhead and it quickly started raining. "What the...it was clear a second ago."

"Drip, drip, drop." Zeke turned and saw a certain water wizard walking towards him. "Hello. My name is Juvia, and I am the Rain Woman of the Element Four. Drip, drip, drop."

The brunette looked at the water wizard and stood up. 'So she's the one who almost kidnapped Lucy.'

"I must say I'm impressed your guild was able to strike down two of the Elements. However, you must not underestimate the remaining two." Juvia said as the two opposing wizards stared down. However, a blush soon appeared on Zeke's face as he turned away.

"Okay then. You win." He said as he started to walk away, baffling the blue-haired woman. As he was walking away, the brunette felt his heart rate continue to sky rocket. 'What the hell is wrong with me?!' Zeke thought to himself as his emotional and logical sides started to duke it out.

 _'I can't hurt her.'_  His heart said. ' _She's too beautiful!._ '

' _But we must fight!_ ' His logic retorted. ' _She's an enemy of Fairy Tail!_ '

' _Dude, did you see how big her knoc...'_  His lust started to say.

" _Water Lock!_ " Thankfully, Zeke's inner torment was silenced as he suddenly found himself trapped in a sphere of swirling water. He turned and saw Juvia glaring at him.

"I don't know what kind of trick this is, but it won't work on me." She with a stern expression. Holding in his breath, Zeke pulled out and activated his Spiral Sword, slicing open the sphere of water and jumping out.

"He broke my Water Lock?" Juvia asked in shock as her soaked opponent landed.

"That was stupid of me. Letting my guard down like that." Zeke said as he conjured up his longbow and a series of energy arrows. "Alright, I'll fight you.  _Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!_ " He fired a stream of arrows that pierced Juvia's body. However, the archer looked in shock as the body parts that were hit simply turned into water.

"My body is made entirely of water. Surprised, drip, drip, drop?" Juvia said as she returned her body to an uninjured state, Zeke watching in astonishment. The rain woman then held her hand out as a blue magic circle appeared. " _Water Slicer!_ "

The leader of Team Morningstar narrowly avoided the blades of water, seeing the ones that he evaded slice through some spikes behind him. "When given the proper amount of force, water is strong enough to rip through steel. Underestimate its power and you'll find yourself in a world of pain." Juvia explained as Zeke prepared another attack.

" _Arch Shot: Seeker Arrow!_ " The archer fired the homing attack that pierced his opponent's body and he quickly motioned it as fast as he could to slice through her repeatably. However, Juvia just kept turning her body into water as the energy arrow pierced her until it disappeared.

"Can't you see that you're just wasting your time? You attacks have no effect on my body made of water." The blue-haired woman stated as she reconstituted herself, making the archer scowl.

'Damn she's right. My attacks just go right through her.' He thought to himself before remembering how he broke out of the Water Lock. 'But if I use my Spiral Sword, that might actually do damage to...' Suddenly, a wave a revulsion hit the brunette even as he thought about using the disruption weapon against his opponent. 'Why...why do I feel sick just even thinking of it? She's my enemy!'

"No matter what attack you use, you cannot beat me. You and guild have no chance, so just give up Miss Lucy Heartfilia and you may yet walk away." Juvia said.

"I doubt that." Zeke replied, snapping out of his inner turmoil. "Even if we just gave Lucy to you guys, your master would still try to destroy us." He looked at her with steel determination. "And Lucy's my friend. I don't know how you treat friends in Phantom Lord, but in Fairy Tail, we look after our friends!'

Seeing his determination brought a strange sensation to Juvia's chest, but she chose to ignore it as she prepared her next attack. "Very well." She pushed her arm out as boiling water blasted towards Zeke who jumped out of the way.

'So she can alter the temperature of the water too.' The brunette exclaimed as he felt the heat coming off the next series of water attacks, being forced to evade the curving torrent of boiling water as a plan started to formulate in his head. 'No choice then! I can't pull my punches!' He carefully landed and aimed another arrow as Juvia calmly walked towards him.

"Ever since the day I was born, I have been followed by the rain. It gives me strength and makes me invincible." The rain woman said before raising her arm up and created another magic circle, a torrent of boiling water forming. "Prepare to be scalded!"

But before she could launch her attack, Zeke fired a Drill Arrow spell and the floor under Juvia, surprising the water wizard as she fell through the new opening. 'Wait for it.' He said to himself as he started preparing his next spell. Suddenly, a geyser of scalding water burst from underneath him. " _Shield Up!_ " Zeke quickly created a shield before he was too burned, the geyser pushing him into the air. It dissipated as he noticed Juvia jumping out of the hole and quickly created five energy arrows that he quickly fired, each of them landing and embedding themselves in a different location, Juvia not noticing.

"It's all over now!" She yelled as she fired another torrent of boiling water at her airborne opponent. However, Zeke spun out of the way as he landed a few feet away from the water wizard.

"Got ya!" The archer yelled as he brought his right hand forward, extending his pointer and middle finger that created a magic circle in front of them. The five arrows that Zeke had fired earlier glowed as the quickly formed a pentagon barrier, creating reflective green walls and a matching roof that contained Juvia.

"What kind of magic is this?" Juvia asked as she launched boiling water from both her hands at the walls, only to be shocked as they had no effect.

"This part one of my ultimate spell." Zeke said, getting the blue-haired woman's attention. "A five-point barrier that won't break as long as I will it."

"And Part two?" The rain woman asked.

"Part Two is me blowing up the shield and you inside it." The archer replied. "And while I'm positive you'd be able to rebuild yourself after my attack, doing so would drain you of your remaining magic energy. And it doesn't take a lot of energy for me to use my sword." The rain woman looked in shock as she came to the same realization as Zeke did earlier. "It's the weakness of all wizards. No matter how powerful they are, their energy is finite."

Juvia just lowered her head, hiding her eyes from her opponent. "Do it then. Finish me." She whispered.

"What was that?" Zeke asked, noticing that her body started to tremble. She lifted up her head, shocking the archer as he saw tears running down her eyes.

"Just end it! You'd be doing me a favor by ending my gloomy existence!" Juvia cried out.

"W-What the hell are talking about?" The brunette said, flabbergasted by the rain woman's response even as he continued to keep the barrier up. Seeing as how this was the end, Juvia decided to unload all her inner pain out.

"I've said it before. I'm a rain woman. Everywhere I go, the rain follows and brings gloom with it." The blue-haired woman said, thinking back to her childhood and all the cruel things the other children said when they thought she wasn't around. How her only boyfriend had left her because of it. "I've never seen a clear sky or the sun."

As the tears continued to fall down her face, the rain started falling down harder. Zeke noticed the heavier rain fall and then looked back at the crying woman in his barrier. 'The rain...she's connected to it.'

"The only ones who accepted me with open arms was Phantom Lord, and I've failed them!" Juvia cried out as she got on her knees and held herself as she cried some more. Seeing this made Zeke feel like something was broken inside of him and decided to take a gamble. As the blue-haired woman was distracted by her breakdown, he cancelled the barrier and made his longbow returned to the sub-space in his pendant. He walked towards the crying woman and did something that utterly surprised her. He gave her a hug.

"W-What are you doing?" Juvia asked. "We're enemies."

"None of that matters right now." Zeke whispered. "I don't want to fight you anymore."

The blue-haired woman didn't know how to react to this as the archer continued to hold her. As he did this, Zeke starting thinking back to when he would see Natsu just looking alone when he first joined the guild, how Alyssa broke down as she told her friends about what happened to her family, and how Lisanna's death left him and his friends feeling empty and Jack distancing himself from his former friends. "You know, there's times when I think about how me and my friends would've turned out if we hadn't meet each other. Would we have become bitter at our losses? Would we have let the darkness overtake us? But I soon forget that when I realize we did make through those gloomy times, because we each had someone to turn to whenever we were at our lowest. And I feel that that's something you've never had."

Juvia looked to the sky in shock at these words even as he continued. "So for just this moment, let me be that person you can open up to and share your pain." And hearing this made more tears fall down Juvia's face as she embraced the brunette archer back, not noticing the rain had started to lighten up.

"I've tried to make it stop all my life, but I can't." She cried out.

"It's okay." Zeke replied. "To be honest, I don't mind the rain that much."

Hearing this brought that feeling in Juvia's chest again until she noticed a light coming from the sky. The two wizards let go of each and looked up, seeing the sky starting to clear up.

"Well, would you look at that." Zeke said as he looked up.

"The blue sky..." Juvia said as she looked up in astonishment, the tears rolling down her face now becoming tears of joy. "It's beautiful." She looked back at the brunette wizard and saw him looking up before turning his attention back towards her.

"Like I said, sometimes you just need someone to turn to when you're feeling down." Zeke said with a smile. Seeing this brought made Juvia's heart skip a beat and a light blush appeared on her face.

'Why is my heart beating so fast?' She thought to herself as she looked at the brunette. "Could...could he be..."

Elsewhere, Amelia was running through the building. However, she was soon forced to evade an explosion of air. The strawberry blonde looked up and saw Aria of the Element 4 walking towards.

"Oh how sorrowful! My comrades have all been defeated! But even more so, now I'll have to handle all of you! So sad!" The blinded man said with tears running down his eyes. While this would freak any other wizard out, Amelia was undeterred as she summoned her crossbow and aimed at the crying man.

"So you're Aria of the Air? Got to admit, I didn't expect to be the crying type. Now how about you be a nice little wizard and surrender before I fire an arrow in your ass?" The white & green-clad wizard stated with a no-nonsense attitude.

"Such vulgarity from a famous wizard! How tragic!" Growling annoyed, Amelia fired an arrow, but the large blinded man disappeared in a burst of air before reappearing behind her. The S-Class wizard dodged as Aria unleashed a barrage of pressurized air.

'He's big but he's fast. Must be using his Airspace magic to increase his speed.' Amelia thought to herself as she continued to evade the attacks. 'But time's of the essence, so I can't pull any punches.' She held her crossbow upward, a magic circle appeared on her holding hand. " _Arch Shot: Sphere Arrow!_ " She fired an arrow that transformed into a ball of energy before bursting and unleashing a rain of energy arrows that Aria evaded with his magic, not seeing that five arrows were embedded in the floor in a certain formation.

"Such despair, you missed! And I now I'll have end you." Aria said as he started to unravel the bandages around his eyes. However, Amelia just smirked as she held her right hand out.

"Gotcha." A magic circle appeared in front of her hand and a five-point barrier similar to the one Zeke had used earlier, surprising Aria. "Now what was that about ending me?"

Aria just looked at the barrier that surrounded him in shock and looked at the blonde archer with a pleading look and tears in his eyes. "Please don't."

"Okay."

"Truly?" He asked, until he saw his enemy's smirk.

"Nope.  _Pentagram Calamity!_ " With a snap of her fingers, the Airspace wizard was consumed in a massive tower of green magic energy, his scream echoing through the halls. When the energy faded, Aria stood there, nearly burnt to a crisp before falling forward.

'And that's the last of the Element 4.' She thought to herself, having remembered about what the crying man had said before. The archer turned and started walking away. 'So that takes care of the Jupiter Cannon. Now all that's left is the Unholy Trinity and their guild master, Jose. I hope you're ready you coward, cause we're going to show what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail!'

_To be continued..._


	14. Disaster times Three

_Chapter 14: Disaster times Three_

The battle between Fairy Tail & Phantom Lord continued to go on with the tide starting to turn in Fairy Tail's favor. The fabled Element 4 had been neutralized, rendering the Jupiter Cannon inept and the Abyss Breaker spell itself was taking way too long to be a threat. As the majority of the guild continued fighting off the Phantoms (Erza having recovered and joined the battle) and the infiltration team still in the bipedal Phantom Guild, the Star Liberator pirates had moved the Jabberwocky, flanking the massive structure as they readied their cannons.

"Are all the cannons loaded?" Alexander asked his first mate as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Ready to fire at your command." Marianne replied, the two then looking up at the structure.

"Alright, then. All cannons, open fire!" The blue-haired captain ordered, pointing at the mobile guild.

Inside of the mobile guild, Natsu and Happy felt the shaking from the cannon attack, giving the dragon-slayer a slightly nauseous feeling that quickly went away.

In the main chambers of the mobile guild hall, Jose was wreathing in calm anger. All of the Element 4 had been defeated, disrupting the Abyss Break spell and the drawing away massive power from the Jupiter Cannon. The only reason the guild hall was still upright was the lacrima core, and now the attacking ship and the speed wizard's continued assaults would continue to bring an end to that.

"Well, this is embarrassing." Robin stated as the Unholy Trinity and their guild master were matching the battle from several camera lacrimas. "Didn't think the E4 would go down like a..."

"Like you on a belly dancer?" Gajeel teased.

"One time that happened!"

"Robin's omnisexuality aside, we should probably do something." Natalie stated, watching the feed that showed Lucy summoning Taurus and taking down more phantoms with her whip. "I know accepting the Heartfilia girl's bounty was just an excuse to f*^k with Fairy Tail, but we could probably use that reward to fix up the guild hall and the Oak Town branch."

Hearing this made Jose calm down a bit. But before he could say anything, the walls on the other side of the room were smashed apart.

"Knock, knock." The four Phantom Pain wizards looked and saw a cobalt-covered Lyle standing in the hole in the wall, his left arm transformed into a massive spiked fist that shifted back to normal. "So, ready to give up yet?"

"What the hell are you talking about, old man?" Gajeel growled.

"Well, four of your strongest wizards are out of the fight. Me, my family and the rest of our comrades are still able to fight, and your guild hall is about to come crumbling down. So the way I see it, this can go two ways." With a determined expression, Lyle took off his glasses and placed them in a pocket before looking at the four enemy wizards with a stern expression. "You can keep fighting until we eventually beat you into submission, or you can turn around and save both of our guilds the time and bruises."

After being silent for a few minutes, Jose started chuckling, confusing Lyle and the Unholy Trinity. "I should've expected such bravado from a veteran of the Golem War."

"No way!" Natalie gasped.

"This guy was in the Golem War?!" Gajeel asked in shock. 'No wonder he's so tough.'

'Ya, we might have a problem.' Robin thought to herself, slightly terrified at facing a man who fought in one of Fiore's most chaotic wars.

"But, you've underestimated your guild's strength. Besides, we don't have to defeat you perse." Jose stated as his magical aura started to flare up. "Robin, Gajeel, Natalie. Go deal with our 'guests'. I'll handle Mr. Hudson."

"Gehehehe." Gajeel chuckled, his shock fading as he felt Jose's power start to rise. "Got it. Come on girls."

The two fellow Trinity members nodded and the three left the room, leaving Lyle and Jose to stare each other down. The Absorption wizard sighed before placing his fingers on another orb on his wrist. "And here I was hoping we could avoid anymore needless fighting.  _Absorption: Diamond._ " In a flash, Lyle's skin transformed into green diamond.

"Tell me something, boy. Do you really think you match a Wizard Saint in combat?" Jose asked as his aura flared even more.

"Hey, I'm a Fairy Tail Wizard. Facing overwhelming odds is what we do." Lyle stated, his hands transforming into large diamond hammers.

**_And then..._ **

Back in the Lacrima chamber, Alyssa continued to beat on the massive crystal, breathing heavily as from her continued attempts to smash it.

'Damn it, this sucker's tough. I could use my Overclock to...no, then I wouldn't have enough magic to get away if I run into one of the Phantom wizards.' But before the amazonian wizard could continue her thinking, she was forced to evade as several pieces of the floor and consoles were sliced up by Magic Wires. Seeing this, Alyssa looked up and saw a certain fedora-wearing wizard.

"Valelanca." Alyssa glared before getting into a fighting stance.

"Holy crap, you're a woman!" Robin shouted in surprise. "Sorry, but from a distance I just assumed you were one of those weird guys who puts their hair in a ponytail."

An anger vein appeared on the Speed Queen's forehead, this not being the first time someone's questioned her gender based on her musculature (despite her obvious chest and lack of an Adam's apple). Especially from Erza.

"At least I don't leave weird-ass letters about f*^king food!"

"That was a metaphor." Robin said as adjusting her hat with a bored expression that quickly turned perverted. "Anyways, I was wondering if Mr. Magic Hands snuck on board with you."

"Magic...Hands? Never mind, I don't have time for this!" Alyssa stated before launching towards her opponent at superspeed. But Robin just smirked and motioned her hands, forcing the amazoness to evade as the thin magical wires sliced through the air, even leaving small cuts on her arms and legs. 'Damn it! Her wires are faster than I thought.'

"Oh how cute. You actually thought to you could get past my wires. Well news flash Big Bertha, my wires react to instantly to my mental commands." The Wire Wizard boasted as she pointed to her forehead. "So unless you can move faster than thought, any attack towards me will leave you as a pile of bloody chunks on floor." To emphasize her point, Robin motioned her hands, her wires shining as she gave a killer smirk. "Although you're more than welcome to try."

Alyssa scowled and said nothing as she started planning out her next move. Like before, she considered using her Overclock spell to move faster than the wires, but it would leave her open if it failed. As such, she decided to use her long-range spells.

" _Speed Queen: Twin Twister!_ " After unleashing two wind funnels at her opponent, Robin evaded the attack and pulled on her wires.

"Nice trick! Here's mine!  _Wire Cyclone!_ " The fedora hat wearing wizard proclaimed before unleashing spiralling wires at her enemy, which Alyssa dodged but still suffered small cuts.

'Damn!' The speed wizard thought to herself as she continued to evade the high-speed wire. She backed up and started vibrating her fist before charging. " _Speed Queen: Vibration Punch!"_

But as soon as Alyssa charged in, Robin smirked once again and quickly moved her hands. " _Wire Snare!_ " In a flash of yellow, the amazonian wizard was ensnared by several wires. "Any last words before slice you up?"

All Alyssa did was vibrate enough to loosen the wires, getting a chance to sneak away before increasing the vibrations of her arms before raising them up. "Here's four!  _Speed Queen: Vibration Break!_ "

With a powerful slam, the floor gave way and the two female wizard along with the Lacrima core started falling. Before Robin could get her barrings, Alyssa used a piece of falling debris as a jumping board and launched towards her opponent, quickly grappling her and starting to spin.

" _Speed Queen: Spin Toss!_ " With a powerful yell, Alyssa tossed the wire wizard with all her strength, making her slam against the next floor.

'Facedown with another woman beating my ass. I'm the one who does the beating!' She yelled in her mind as she wiped the blood from her lips before raised her hands up. "Alright! Let's up the ante a bit!" Soon, multiple wires started flying up from her sleeves, shirt and pants pockets, glowing as they surrounded the shocked Alyssa. " _Wire Hurricane!_ "

And before Alyssa could react, her sensations were blinded by a barrage of agonizing pain as the barrage of wires cut into her and she fell to the ground, blood starting to flow down her face, arms and torso.

"Oh that looks like it really hurts." Robin stated as she staggered back up. "You know, I'd make a time of the month joke, but I'm above that. And least I manage to protect the..." And just like that, the lacrima core landed on the other side of the room, shattering into thousands of shards. "Well...shit."

Soon enough, with the destruction of the core, the bipedal guild started shake and wobble, falling to its 'knees', much to joy of the battling Fairy Tail wizards on the cliff side. Back with the two, Alyssa started to grin despite the pain she was feeling.

"How about that? You beat me and I still won." However, this was short lived as the amazonian woman as pulled up with wires surrounding her neck.

"Enjoy your little victory party for the last few seconds you have!" Robin scowled.

"Hey, I'm the Speed Queen." Alyssa chocked out, her eyes starting to glow with magic. "A few seconds is all I need!" With another vibration, she pushed the wires back before quickly turning and socking the wire wizard with enough force to draw blood and knock her fedora off.

"Okay, now I'm pis..." But before Robin could react, her orange-haired opponent headbutted her, knocking her out.

"Told you all I needed was a second." Alyssa stated before rubbing her head from the impact. She then started using her magic to speed up her healing process.

Outside, the Jabberwocky continued to fire on the kneeling guild with Alexander standing behind the wheel. Unbeknownst to the Star Liberators, Natalie watched from a distance as she placed an orange ring on her right pinky finger. " _Teleport_!"

Suddenly, the green-haired woman teleported onto the ship, much to the shock to the crew.

"What the..." Marianne shouted.

"Hello.  _Explosion!_ " Natalie quickly chanted before blasting apart the cannons and knocking back the pirates. But then she was forced to evade a shot from Alexander's Celestial Pistol.

"Get the hell off my ship before I throw you off." The one-eyed wizard threatened her.

"Gee, you sure know how to charm the ladies." Natalie sarcastically replied. "Although I'm kind of curious why a bunch of pirates are working with Fairy Tail."

"Not relevant. But what is relevant is that you're one of the Unholy Trinity." Alexander stated as he pulled out Gongji's key. "Everyone, stand back. I'll handle our guest."

"Oh, well look at the big balls on you." Natalie replied as she slipped on more rings onto her fingers. "This is gonna be fun."

Alexander smirked and held out his key. " _Open, Gate of the Rooster - Gongji!_ " And from the gate came the sharply-dressed humanoid rooster.

"You called, Captain?" The rooster spirit asked as he adjusted his collar.

"I did. You would help me dispose of Miss..."

"Sabre. Natalie Sabre of Phantom's Unholy Trinity." Natalie introduced herself before holding out her right hand. "But enough chit-chat!  _Bind!_ " Several magic circles appeared around the Celestial Wizard and his spirit before chains shot out towards them. Gongji quickly kicked the chains away and Alexander sliced them up with his saber. He then quickly aimed his flintlock and fired...

" _Defend!_ " ...Only for Natalie to summon a barrier and block the shots as Gongji ran and threw a kick that the green-haired wizard was forced to evade. This pattern continued until Alexander flanked to her right, which Natelie spotted and activated the teal ring on her right middle finger.

" _Blade!_ " Another magic circle appeared and transformed into a teal blade that Natalie used to block her opponents sword strike.

"Didn't think you were one for close-quarters combat." Alexander taunted as sparks came off their clashing blades.

"Gotta be ready for anything.  _Explosion!_ " Natalie taunted back before creating an explosion that knocked Alexander and Gongji back a bit.

"For a ring wizard, she's pretty strong." The rooster spirit groaned as he quickly got back up. Hearing this made the green-haired woman scowl and she raised her left hand in the air, one of her rings glowing.

" _Big_!" To the shock of the crew, Natalie arm phased through the magic circle and turned gigantic. "How's this for a ring wizard you chicken f* &K?!"

"Actually I'm a roost...OH SWEET CELESTIAL KING!" The lanky spirit yelled as he and his wizard leaped away from the massive falling fist, the impact smashing a large part of the deck. While there was a large part of Alexander's brain screaming that his ship was being smashed up, he noticed the sudden change in his enemy's behaviour. He looked to his oldest comrade and saw that Gongji had the same look of realization on his face.

"You must've shelled out a lot of jewel to get those rings." Alexander taunted, making an anger vein appear on her forehead.

"You think these rings are that store-bought crap?! I spend days finding the materials and forging them into the perfect rings!" She then held out her hands. " _Bind!"_  Two magic circles appeared in front of Natalie and shot a series of chains at the two. However, Gongji quickly gave the chains a look before taking in a breath. He then unleashed a powerful sonic attack from his mouth, shattering the chains.

"What the hell?!" A shocked Natalie exclaimed.

"Question: What is a rooster's most well-known trait? Answer: Their voice. And mine happens to be powerful and precise enough to shatter steel on the right pitch." Gongji said with a smug expression.

"Shatter this!" The green-haired wizard yelled as she held one of her hands up. " _Copy!_ "

As she started to create copies of herself, Alexander quickly uncovered the secret lock on his saber and placed Houzi's key into it. "Houzi, lend me you power!"

" _You got it, Captain!"_  The spiritual visage of the monkey replied before the blue-haired celestial wizard turned and placed the key in, making the saber's blade glow blue with magic energy.

" _Explosion!_ " The thirteen Natalies exclaimed as they held their hands out.

" _Final Wave!_ " Alexander yelled before sliced vertically, creating a crescent blade of energy that shot forward.

" _Hyper Caw_!" Gongji yelled unleashing a massive sonic attack.

In a massive burst of magic energy, the three attacks collided and created a powerful explosion that caught everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Laki asked.

"That looked like it was coming from the Jabberwocky." Alzack stated.

"Oh no. Alex." Mirajane said in concern. However, the battling Fairy Tail wizards didn't have long to think about their comrades before something jumped from the mobile guild and impacted with the cliff side, making them cover their eyes before the dust settled. And standing in the impact crater was Gajeel Redfox, a cocky smirk on his face.

"You, blondie! You're coming with me!" The Dragon-Slayer ordered, making Lucy back away while Taurus and Mystogan stood in front of her.

"You come anywhere near Ms. Lucy's bod and I'll turn you into mincemeat!" Taurus exclaimed.

"I partially agree with Sir Taurus." Mystogan followed up. "We won't let you harm Lady Lucy."

"Well, well, well. You must be Mystogan. Let's see if you live up to the..."

"GAJEEL!" Gajeel's taunting was stopped as a blazing orange figure crashed down near him. The smoke cleared and revealed an angry Natsu glaring at the other dragon-slayer.

"Ah, Salamander. This really is my lucky day."

"Natsu!" Lucy stated. The salmon-haired wizard looked at his three (hiding his surprise at Mystogan's presence).

"Lucy, Mystogan. Leave this creep to me." Natsu said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Go get him, Natsu!" A nearby floating Happy cheered on.

"Aw, pinkie thinks he can take me on." Gajeel taunted as he loosened his arm. "Guess we can finish what we started in Oak Town."

"This isn't about that." Natsu growled. "You wrecked our guild, attacked our friends and hung them on a tree! This is purely payback."

"Bring it on, little man!  _Iron Dragon Club!"_  Gajeel exclaimed, turning one of his arms into an elongated club which Natsu grabbed and spun the pierced wizard around before tossing him, making Cana, Max and Reedus evade the thrown slayer.

"Watch it, Natsu!" Max yelled.

Natsu came down on Gajeel with his fists on fire, which he blocked, creating a cloud of debris before the two jumped out of it and Natsu punched Gajeel onto the roof of the half-destroyed guild hall. The Iron Dragon-Slayer quickly got back up and saw Natsu coming down with his leg on fire.

" _Fire Dragon Talon_!" The impact from the attack sent the two through the roof, much to the shook of the guild.

"Oh great! As if the guild wasn't wrecked enough!" Macao yelled as he barely evaded another Phantom, the long battle starting to weigh on him and everyone else.

Inside the guild, the two dragon-slayers got back up and Gajeel chuckled. "You're not fooling anyone with that fake bravado."

"Trust me buddy, that ain't fake." Natsu said, his face still and stern. Crashing through the mostly destroyed guild just made the salmon-haired wizard more cross as he ignited his fist. "I'm gonna melt your face into iron slag."

Gajeel just smirked at this threat. "I'd like to see you try!"

The two dragon-slayers then charged at each other and started exchanging offensive spells of fire and iron. Gajeel unleashed another club spell that Natsu jumped over and kicked his opponent in the face. This didn't slow Gajeel down as he transformed his arm into a blade and swung in an arc, making Natsu leap away to avoid it.

'What the hell's going on with his magic?' The scarf-wearing wizard thought to himself as he looked at Gajeel's transformed arm. The blades on the edge then started to spin rapidly effective turning his arm into a buzzsaw.

"My Iron Dragon Sword can cut through anything! Why don't we test it out on you, Salamander!" Gajeel taunted.

"Hmph. I don't care how sharp your 'blade' is!" Natsu proclaimed with a smirk before being forced to evade Gajeel as he leaped and swung his spinning blade down, slicing apart the floorboards underneath them.

"What's the matter?! Aren't you gonna try and block this one?!" The red-eyed wizard taunted as he swung his blade around, slicing apart more of the guild hall. "I thought you didn't care how sharp my blade was?!"

'Shit! If we keep this up, the guild's gonna be totaled!' Natsu thought to himself as he continued to evade the spinning and swinging blade. "Time to get serious!" With a yell, azure fire exploded out of Natsu and pushed Gajeel back, who looked in surprise for a second before smirking.

"So you can amp up the temperature of your flames to the point of changing the colors. Neat trick." A pale green magic circled appeared underneath the Iron Dragon Slayer and much to Natsu's astonishment, Gajeel's skin started to change from flesh to Iron Scale Mail. "But you're not the only dragon with a power up!" He then leaped and Natsu, who slammed his hands to block.

" _Fire Dragon Shield!_ "

" _Iron Dragon Hard Fist!_ "

When Gajeel's fist made contact with the azure fire shield, a magic circle appeared and the force of the attack blasted Natsu, making him smash through the bar counter and causing several of the bottles to break around him. "Now that was a nice sound."

Natsu seethed as he felt his left hand start to welt up. Thankfully his Shield absorbed most of the damage, so he was able to continue. But before he could catch his breath, Gajeel charged in and socked with metal fist into his face. However, the salmon-haired wizard was able to evade his opponent's kick, the force of which created a wind pressure that smashed up some more tables.

'So his scales work like my Azure Flames, doubling the strength of his attacks.' Natsu thought to himself as he socked Gajeel in the face with an Iron Fist attack. And much to Gajeel's shock, he actually felt the heat from the attack and staggered a bit. The two dragon-slayers backed up, silently reeling from the pain of the collision (Gajeel from the enhanced punch and Natsu from actually punching the iron skin.)

But this only lasted a second before the two went back to fighting with Gajeel headbutting Natsu through a wall, causing some blood to spill from the Fire Dragon-Slayer's mouth as he quickly recovered. "Hardheaded bastard! This will blow you away!" He then started to inhale some air from his next attack and Gajeel proceeded to do the same.

" _Fire Dragon..._ "

" _Iron Dragon..._ "

" _ROAR!_ " And with that, the two unleashed their respective attacks of blue fire and iron-laced wind, the force of the colliding attacks blasting a hole through the walls.

"The hell?!" Ur yelled out as the Fairy Tail wizards looked at the explosion coming from their guild hall. Back inside, Natsu and Gajeel were standing, panting as they felt the impact from the opposing attacks.

"I gotta admit, Salamander. I thought this would be a one-sided battle." Gajeel panted and grinned even as his metal body had smoke coming from it and cracks on some areas. "But you're actually putting up a good fight."

"Hehehe. Hate to admit it, but I'm actually starting to enjoy myself." Natsu said, grinning despite the numerous cuts on his exposed flesh. With another roar, Natsu's Azure Flames started to blaze around him again. "You feel like giving up yet, Black Steel?"

"Not on your life! I'm just getting started!" Gajeel exclaimed as his magical aura starting flaring up as well. "Beside, there isn't enough room for two dragons in the sky!"

"For once, I agree with you!" And with that, the two powerful wizards leaped at each and the battle continued. Their fists collided, causing enough wind to send debris flying everywhere before the two took off into the sky, bursting through the roof. The two then started a slug fest in mid-air before landing on the roof again and headbutting each other, neither one giving the other any room to breath as they continued their savage battle, actually leveling another part of the roof in the process.

"What the hell is Natsu doing?! He's destroying the guild hall!" Erza yelled.

"I doubt Sir Natsu is having any chance to fight safely." Mystogan stated as he looked at battle even as he sliced apart a phantom. "This a battle between magics capable of killing dragons. We should consider ourselves lucky not be caught in the middle."

"Natsu." Happy said, concerned for his father figure.

Back inside (specifically the guild clinic), Natsu evaded another attack and noticed Gajeel quickly taking a chunk of some metal and started eating it. In a matter of seconds, the cracks in Gajeel's skin started to close up and his magical energy was restored. "Now I feel energized."

"I can do that too!" Natsu exclaimed as he reached for something under his wrist bands. He pulled out a tiny red ball and tossed it against the floor, creating a massive explosion. However, the fire was quickly sucked into Natsu's mouth and the fire in his belly was relit. 'Thank you, Zeke.'

"Carrying around a small piece of your element with you. Gotta admit, that's pretty clever." Gajeel stated as he held up arm out. "But that still won't save you!  _Iron_   _Dragon Spear: Demon Logs_!" A magic circle manifested in front of his extended arm and several iron spikes launched out towards Natsu.

" _Fire Dragon Shield!_ " Natsu yelled, slamming his fists together and creating a torrent of fire that actually melted the spears before they could reach him. 'This is getting me nowhere! Our power is almost the same level!' He thought to himself as he continued to evade Gajeel's metal-laced attacks. 'But if I used my Brilliant Flame or Supernova, then I could..." But as he thought about this, Natsu then came to the realization that if he used either one of those attacks, he would also destroy the remains of the Fairy Tail guildhall. This slight distraction was enough for Gajeel to kick him through the wall and back into the dinning hall once again.

"What's the matter? Did your fire go out already?" Gajeel taunted as he stepped through the new hole in the wall. As his opponent started to walk towards him, Natsu got back up, his mind thinking back to the memories he had within these halls. He remembered the time that Mira made fun of his inability to read and how Zeke convinced Erza that he would be the better one to teach Natsu about basic vocabulary. He remembered the day he asked Alyssa out in front of everyone, despite his embarrassment. He recalled the his first big fight with Gray and how it ended in a tie. How he first met Jackson and insulted his weird speaking habits. He even recalled the recent memory of his team welcoming Lucy into the guild. 'Everyone...I'm sorry.'

(Music Que: Ambiguous English cover by Sapphire)

With a sorrowful look on his face, Natsu looked up and glared at Gajeel.

"Oh, now that's a scary look. Did I hit nerve, Salamander?"

"Damn you." Natsu said as a blue magic circle appeared under his feet. Gajeel started to notice that the air around the two was starting to get increasingly warmer as the salmon-haired wizard started to channel all of his magical energy into his next spell. "Damn you for making me do this!"

"Don't get cocky!" Gajeel transformed his arm into a buzzsaw again and he charged. However, Natsu's spell was ready as he opened with eyes, revealing his dragon-like irises.

" _FIRE DRAGON...SUPERNOVA_!" With his most powerful yell yet, the salmon-haired dragon-slayer unleashed a massive explosion of azure fire, stopping Gajeel in his tracks and blasting apart the guild hall.

Outside, the rest of the Fairy Tail guild were stunned as the guild hall was consumed in a massive sphere of azure fire.

"What the hell is that?!" Bisca exclaimed.

"Is that...is that Natsu?" Nab asked in astonishment.

Lucy looked on in shock. 'Just when I thought I knew how strong Natsu was, he goes and does this.'

"The Supernova." Happy stated with wide eyes. "He's actually using it at full strength!"

Erza looked on in shock, similar to when she first learned about Natsu's Azure Flames. 'You've really become stronger, haven't you?'

Underneath his face wrappings, Mystogan smirked as he looked on at the massive sphere of flames. 'Bravo, Sir Natsu. Bravo.'

Inside of the raging inferno, Gajeel continued to slowly push on ahead, even as the heat started forming cracks all over his skin. "You...you think this is gonna stop me?!" The Iron Dragon-Slayer yelled as he pushed forward. Seeing this Natsu knew he would have to use everything he had.

"Levy, Jet, Droy, Gramps, Lucy and our guild hall! I'm going to make you pay of all of that!" With the full might of his magic, Natsu yelled and made the Supernova go critical. The resulting increase in force caused a massive explosion so bright that the Fairy Tail wizards were forced to cover their eyes and took out most of the Phantoms. When the light faded, the guild were finally able to open their eyes and saw that the guild hall had been completely incinerated with only Natsu and Gajeel standing in the epicenter of the blast.

Cracks then began to form all over Gajeel's iron skin until it completely shattered, revealing the red-tinged skin underneath before he fell on his, fading into unconsciousness.

(Music Que Ended)

Natsu was also standing and breathing heavily before falling forward and also fading. 'I...actually.'

And with that, the fire dragon-slayer fell on his face, barely making out the sounds of Happy and Lucy before nodding off.

_**Somewhere else...** _

Two figures were walking inside of an emerald tinted cathedral. One of them was a young man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue befitting a prince with a rapier strapped to his side. The other figure was a woman with her body completely covered in a heavy red rode, hood and expressionless garnet theater mask. Suddenly, the woman staggered and held onto the left side of her mask, getting her younger colleagues' attention.

"My lady, our you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Michael. Just an old wound acting up." The woman replied, standing up straight. Seeing this, the young man turned around and heading off, leaving the masked woman to herself. She looked up at the emerald skylight and placed her gloved hand back on the left side of her mask.

"So the abomination has grow stronger. How...repulsive." The woman said with venom in her voice.

_**Back with our heroes...** _

'Come on, where is everyone?' Amelia thought to herself as she ran through the halls of the now downed guild. She eventually turned a corner and saw Elfman.

"Mrs. Hudson. Good to see you're still kicking." The Take-Over wizard greeted with a smile.

"Good to see you too, Elfman." The strawberry-blonde greeted back. Suddenly, the two heard rumbling coming from the down the hall. The two wizards ran towards the sound to investigate, but much to their shock, the walls exploded and a familiar man flew through the new hole.

"Lyle!" Amelia exclaimed as Elfman caught him. She ran to her husband's side and was stunned to see that his diamond skin had cracks over most of it.

"What happened?" Elfman asked before the two heard footsteps and turned, seeing Jose walk towards them with his dark aura flaring up.

"Ah, how touching. The great hero Amelia tending to her husband." Jose said as he wiped some blood from his jaw. "You should be proud. He actually managed to draw some blood from me."

"H-Hey, I'm not done yet!" Lyle said, staggering up but then falling as his skin changed back, Amelia catching him. She scowled at the Wizard Saint before turning to the other wizard.

"Elfman, get Lyle somewhere safe." She said with a stern expression.

"You expect me to just leave you here? A real man doesn't abandon his comrades!" Elfman replied, only to be silenced by the anger in her eyes.

"This isn't up for debate. Take him back to the guild and get him some medical treatment!"

"R-Right." The white-haired man said, sweating as he put the injured man over his shoulders.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Jose said before unleashing a blast that moved past Elfman and destroyed his route of escape. "No Fairy Tail wizard is going to be leaving here alive."

"Is that so, you mustache-twirling psychopath?!  _Arch Shot: Drill Arrow_!"

" _Ice-Make: Saucer!_ "

While any normal wizard would have evaded the attacks, Jose just raised his hands and destroyed oncoming spells with a pulse of his magic. After this, the group turned their attention to the two new arrivals from the opposite ends of the room. A shirtless Gray in his usual stance and Zeke with an unconscious Juvia draped over his shoulders.

"Now that was a manly entrance!" Elfman stated, giving his teammate a thumbs up.

"Zeke!" Amelia stated, happy to see her son was okay until she noticed the unconscious woman draped over him. "Wait. Isn't that one of the Element Four?"

"It's a long story." The brunette archer replied before as he took a position next to his comrades, Gray doing the same. If you were wondering about Zeke's current predicament, after the mobile guild nearly collapsed, the archer said he needed to take care of something and then started treating his wounds (which involves lifting up his shirt). After treating himself, he saw that for some unknown reason, Juvia was now unconscious and her face was red. As such, he put his shirt back on and carried her until he spotted his mother and his knocked out father and decided to intervene.

"Gray, can you put Juvia and my dad into a protective shell?" Zeke asked as he laid the water mage down.

"Um, I can do that for Lyle. But why should I do that for one of Phantom's wizards?" The shirtless wizard asked.

"Look just do it!" Zeke said with a stern expression, surprising Gray. Amelia on the other hand started looking back and forth between Zeke and Juvia, starting to put things into place in her mind as stars to twinkle in her eyes.

"My baby boy's in love!" She stated, making everyone man (except the injured Lyle) look at her with deadpan expressions.

"What?" Gray flatly asked.

"Oh, it's an old classic! Two lovers meet from opposing sides meet on the field of battle! Enemies at first, but then their love puts aside all hatred towards each!" Amelia cheered, acting more like a teenager than the adult she actually was.

"W-Wait! You got it wrong! That's not what happened!" Zeke retorted, his cheeks as red as Erza's hair since what his mother was spouting was true on his part, not so much on Juvia's (at least to his knowledge).

"Woah, you beat her with love? Now that really is manly!" Elfman cheered as manly tears ran down his face.

"You're blowing this out of proportion!"

 

'I'm surrounded by idiots.' Gray thought to himself as he subconsciously removed his pants. Suddenly, any further banter and teasing was silenced as Jose left off a sudden pulse of powerful shadow magic.

"You will peons stop this nonsense! I honestly care what this whelp did to Juvia. She failed her mission so she'll die along with the rest of you." Jose coldly stated, making Zeke scowled as he conjured up an arrow and aimed it at the Wizard Saint.

"Not a chance." The brunette replied as his fellow wizards readied for battle as well. Gray encased his forearms in spiky ice, Elfman transformed his right arm into a lizard-like arm, and Amelia conjured up her crossbow.

And with that, the final battle in the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had begun.

_To be concluded..._


	15. Rebirth

_Chapter 15: Rebirth_

As the sun started to set in the distance, the final battle between the wizard guilds of Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord was taking place in the highest levels of the Phantom Lord walking guild.

 _"Dead Wave!"_  Jose yelled out, firing a massive burst of shade energy.

 _"Ice Make: Shield!_ " Gray countered by creating an ice shield that halted the attack slightly before they dodged the blast.

 _"Arch Shot: Arrow Rain/Machinegun Arrow!"_  Zeke and Amelia chanted, firing a massive barrage of green magic arrows. However, Jose merely summoned a group of shades to take the attacks for him. He then proceeded to unleash another wave of shades at the archers, forcing them to invade.

"It doesn't matter how much magic you throw at me! You Fairy Tail rabble can't hope to defeat a wizard saint!" Jose gloated as his aura shot up.

"Haven't you learned yet?!" Elfman yelled as he charged, his body fully-transformed from his Take-Over magic. "Fairy Tail doesn't know the meaning of the word quit!"

But Jose evaded the attack and blasted the transformed wizard back. Scowling, Zeke used a piece of debris to jump into the air to fire his next attack.

" _Arch Shot: Arrow Rain!_ " Another barrage of energy arrows was fired and Jose blocked with his shades again. But this time, five arrows flew past the guarding shadows and landed in a pentagram formation around the guild master. And as Zeke landed, he motioned his hand, creating the five-point barrier around the surprised Shade Wizard.

 _"Pentagram Calamity!"_  With a snap of his fingers, the barrier exploded in a massive burst of magic. But much to Zeke's chagrin, the smoke cleared and revealed Jose with mild bruises, tattered clothing and an angry expression on his face.

"You know what really pisses me off about Fairy Tail? You have so many strong wizards, and yet you all make the poor decision to side with Makarov." But as he said this, he noticed that the air around him was starting to quickly grow cold.

" _Ice Make: Geyser!_ " Gray yelled out, creating a massive uproar of ice that consumed Jose. "Take him down!"

"Got it!" Amelia replied, aiming her crossbow and creating five magic circles with green lightning shooting out of them. The energies converged to create a massive arrow aimed right at the glacier. " _Arch Shot: Demolition Arrow!_ " With a pull of the trigger, the large arrow launched forward and impacted with the half-frozen Jose, creating a massive explosion.

"Keep it up!" Zeke yelled as he aimed for his next attack. " _Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!_ "

Gray and Elfman nodded and readied their next spells. Gray creating a razor saucer of ice and Elfman transforming his arms into dark purple spiked arms.

" _Ice-Make: Saucer!_ "

" _Beast Arm: Razorpine_!"

The spiraling arrow, sharp spinning ice construct and rapid-fired razor spikes launched at the smoke cloud, knocking Jose into the wall and making an indent with spikes jutting out of his right shoulder and left thigh.

"Alright, I was going to save this spell for killing Makarov..." The Phantom Lord's eyes lit up as a wave of magical energy was released from his body, disintegrated the spikes in his body. "But I guess can use it here! So pay attention, because it'll be the last thing you miserable cretins will see!"

"Not if I have anything to say!  _Ice Make: Spikes!_ " The shirtless ice wizard launched a wave of icy spikes at his foe, but the wizard saint brought up his left arm and shattered the spiky wave with another blast. He held up his right arm, conjuring up a magic circle. Above the circle was a large orb of shadow energy growing larger and larger, the sight of which started to make the Fairy Tail wizards uneasy.

"Say goodbye, you insufferable twits!  _DEAD HORIZON_!" And with that, he threw the powerful spell at his enemies, creating a blast so large that it was seen from the cliff side and the wreckage of the Jabberwocky.

"That can't be anything good." Alexander said as he climbed out of the wreckage.

When the energy resided, Jose smirked and the destruction his spell brought upon. With debris and smoke everywhere, the guild master assumed that his foes had been vaporized by the attack. However, his delight was spoiled as the smoke cleared, revealing a large green dome of magical energy surrounding the conscious Fairy Tail wizards and the unconscious S-Class wizard and Juvia. "What the?!"

"Is...everyone...okay?" Zeke said in between gasps as he held his hands out.

"I think so." Amelia answered.

"Are...Dad...and Juvia...okay?" The archer asked.

"Ya, they're okay." Elfman replied despite being astonished by his comrade's shield conjuring.

"Good...j-just...just let catch my..." And with that, the brunette fell unconscious with his mother catching him and the dome fading away.

Jose just grunted at this. "A lucky break." He started to gather up magic for another spell. "You won't get another one."

" _Speed Queen..._ " The mustached man was taken by surprise as something hit him in a burst of speed. " _Million-Strike Punch!_ "

After a barrage of rapid-fire punches, Jose was knocked into some more debris, the blur stopping and revealing itself as Alyssa.

"You try to kill my friends, you get a beating from yours truly." The amazonian woman said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Okay, are there anymore late arrivals I should be aware of?!" Jose yelled in anger as he got back up.

"Alyssa." Amelia said, noticing some cuts that were healing up on the speed wizard before getting back to business. "Get Zeke, Lyle and Juvia out of here."

"Wait, isn't Juvia..."

"We'll explain latter!" Gray yelled. The orange-haired woman nodded and took the three knocked out wizards away in a blur as Jose let off another Dead Wave spell.

The battle raged on for what felt like an eternity. The four Fairy Tail wizards keep fighting with all of their skill and magic, but the power was a wizard saint was starting to waver them down. The first to go down was Gray as the force of a blast knocked him unconscious. Zeke was the next to fall as a shade choked him and was only saved from death due to Elfman's intervention.

The only one left was Amelia, who had blood running down the left side of her face due to a head wound.

"Ahahahahahahaha!" Jose laughed as his magic flowed around his hands. "So this is the best the great hero has to offer? I must say, I'm disappointed. But no matter, after I kill you and your son, I'll make sure to pay your husband back for knocking out one of my teeth."

Hearing this made the strawberry-blonde scowl. Without saying a word, she ripped off her right sleeve, revealing something that shocked Jose.

"N-No! It can't be!"

One her arm was a red mark with wings and symbol similar to the Fairy Tail guild mark but with a more claw-like appearance. Amelia raised her right arm and the crossbow into the air as the tattoo began to glow in a magnificent golden light. Jose launched a Dead Wave spell but his foe was consumed in a pillar of golden light that blasted through the roof.

"That spell!" Macao yelled out.

"What's happening?" Lucy asked.

"It's Lady Amelia." Mystogan stated. "She's using one of Three Great Fairy Magics."

"Great Fairy Magics?"

"They're three incredible powerful spell that can only be cast by a member of Fairy Tail." The hooded swordsman stated.

The pillar blacked out the sun and a ring of golden energy appeared over the archer as she started to chant.

_"Gather! O river of light that's guided by the fairies! Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!"_

"DAMN YOU!  _DEAD HORIZON!_ " But before the wizard saint to fire his spell, Amelia aimed her crossbow and the ring reappeared and closed around him.

" _Fairy Glitter!_ " She pulled the trigger and Jose was engulfed in a massive pillar of light that demolished the roof the of Phantom Lord guild hall. The light was so brilliant that the rest of the guild wizards were temporary blinded. Eventually, the light faded and Amelia saw that the surrounding room was completely demolished. She quickly looked and was relieved that her unconscious cohorts were unharmed by the massive spell, as the Three Great Fairy Magics were only known to affect who the caster saw as an enemy. And while the spell had drained her remaining mana, she at least took care of Jose. Or so she thought.

"You..." She turned and saw a badly burnt Jose limping towards her with his left arm extended and a phantom ready to strike. "You haven't fully mastered that spell. Otherwise...I'd be a pile of ash."

'Shit! All my magic's been drained!' The strawberry blonde thought to herself as she backed up as the menacing figure limped towards her with his final spell ready.

"Now die!" Jose yelled. However, before he could strike, a massive fist slammed into him, finally knocking the wizard saint out. Amelia turned and smiled.

"Master Makarov!" The archer cheered at the sight of her recovered master.

"You did well, child. This war is over."

_**And then...** _

The sun had started to set in distance as Makarov sighed over the wreckage of their guild hall. "They sure did number on this place."

"Guys, I'm...I'm sorry." The guild wizards turned and saw a distraught Natsu walking towards them. "It was the only thing I could think of to stop Gajeel."

"Look my boy, buildings can be rebuilt. Lives can't." Makarov stated, placing a hand on the dragon-slayer's shoulder.

"I'm sorry too, master." Lucy stated with tears in her eyes. The short man just sighed again before turning to the blonde.

"You've been through a lot child. Don't let is get you down."

"Ya, let's see a smile, Lucy." The blonde celestial wizard turned and saw the patched up Team Shadow Gear.

"Levy."

"You're okay." The now awake Zeke said, happy that his ex and her teammates made a recovery.

"We beat Phantom, so it's no big deal." The bookworm stated with a smile.

"I agree." The wizards turned and saw the bruised Alexander, Marianne and the rest of the Star Liberators. "It's like the old saying goes, 'There's no use crying over spilled rum.'"

"I'm pretty sure that's milk, captain." Marianne whispered.

"Don't ruin the moment."

"And yes, the guild hall is destroyed. But that just means we can rebuild it." Lyle said with his arm around his wife's shoulder.

"So don't go blaming yourself." Alyssa said to her friend and teammate.

"Lucy, though we might not be able to share our feelings of happiness and sadness entirely, we do share to some extent." Makarov stated. "That's what happens in a guild. One person's happiness becomes everyone's happiness. One person's anger becomes everyone's anger. And one person's tears become everyone's tears. There's no reason for you to feel guilty. So don't cry. You should already know how much everyone here cares about you."

However, tears still fell down Lucy's face. But these were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy.

"Hold you head high my dear. Because you are a proud member of the Fairy Tail family." Makarov said with a kind smile. As Lucy's tears became more pronounced, she lifted her head and saw Natsu, Alyssa, Zeke and a winged Happy with their fists extended.

"You're also a part of Morningstar." Alyssa stated. "And we stick together until the end."

And through her tears, Lucy gave a smile and bumped her fist against her teammates. "Until the end."

While Makarov was happy that his child were alright, he still feared what the council might do in response to this war. The thought that he might be facing prison time made the old man sweat and then burst out in tears, freaking a nearby Erza out.

_**And then...** _

_About a week after we defeated Phantom, we started rebuilding and everything seemed normal again. But it wasn't long before things suddenly took a turn for the worst._

_We were confronted by the Rune Knights, the Magic Council's army. They rounded everyone up and took us to a military post for extensive questioning. We had to endure a week of daily interrogations. Even Amelia, a Captain-Level Rune Knight, was forced to comply. But everything seems to have blown over now._

_From what I can gather, the council has decided to make a ruling on Fairy Tail's punishment at a later date. But you don't have to worry about me, Mom. I don't think they're going to be too hard on us. All of the evidence, including eye witness reports, clearly show that Phantom was the one that attacked us first._

_You know Mom, I can't help but wonder if Dad really was the one behind all of this. You don't think he'd go that far, do you?_

_Now that I think about it, he would. Without even giving it second thought. I just don't understand why he's so desperate for me to come home all of a sudden. It's not like he ever cared that I was there before._

_Mom, he'd do it again, wouldn't he? Use his money to try and control me. No, I won't let that happen! Not this time._

While Lucy was contemplating and writing a letter, the rest of Fairy Tail wizards were hard at work at rebuilding the guild hall.

"I'm no expert, but doesn't this seem like too much material for rebuilding the guild?" Macao asked.

"We figured this would be a good chance to expand the place." Mirajane explained as she unrolled a large sheet of paper. "Look, I got the plans right here."

The gathered wizards looked at the plans and were...a bit confused due to the incredibly cartoonish design plans.

"It's...interesting." Wakaba stated.

"Which way is supposed to be up?" Marianne asked.

"What idiot drew these plans?" Gray asked.

And just like that, Mirajane started to cry dramatically.

"Oh, I didn't mean that Mira!" The ice wizard quickly apologized.

"You should apologize." Alexander said with a glare.

"I did!"

"Well, apologize better."

_A bit later..._

(Rumble)

"And that's fate punishing me for not bringing any lunch." Zeke groaned as he patted his stomach.

"You guys wanna grab lunch in town?" Alyssa asked. Suddenly, a wave of water washed over most of Team Morningstar and disappeared.

"What the hell was that?!" Natsu yelled as his fire magic quickly dried him off. Zeke was also wondering until he noticed a pink lunch box in his hands.

"Okay, this is kind of weird." Zeke opened the box and saw an assortment of rice and meats arranged to spell LOVE and an bishonen-style version of Zeke's face on the rice. The archer also noticed a tiny note on the cover and started reading it to himself.

_Dear Zeke,_

_Consider this lunch as a token of my appreciation for helping me see my first clear sky._

_Sincerely, Juvia_

This note, the word LOVE on the lunch and the tiny hearts near her name made the brunette's face lite up like a candle. Seeing their friend like this made the other three members of Morningstar smirk.

"Looks like someone's got an admirer." Alyssa teased.

"She liiiiiikes you." Happy teased as well.

"S-Shut up!" Zeke exclaimed before using a fork to take a bite of it. "Holy crap! This is so good!" The archer said as he started engulfing the rest of it, much to his friend's shock.

"That must be some good cooking to make him eat like that." Natsu stated.

Unbeknownst to the team, Juvia was hiding and watching with glee as Zeke happily ate the meal she put her heart into. 'He loves it! My prince loves my cooking!' She giddily said in her mind as a smile made way to her face.

"Hey, who said you guys could take a break?" Erza (who was wearing a construction outfit) asked as she and the rest of Team Maelstrom walked towards their fellow wizards. Cana also noticed the pink lunch box Zeke was eating from.

"Well, well, well. The elusive Zeke finally has an admirer. But what will poor Levy think of this?" She said in an overdramatic fashion.

"You've been drinking, haven't you?" Elfman asked.

"Do you even need to ask?" The card wizard retorted.

"You guys should've seen how it was before. Whoever made this arranged the rice & vegies to look like Zeke's face." Natsu said, making Gray shiver.

"How could you eat something that looks like yourself?" The ice wizard stated. "That's so weird."

"I'm pretty sure you're the only one with that phobia." Erza replied and was then repulsed as Zeke let out a satisfied belch. "I thought you were the well-mannered one of your team."

"What are saying, that the rest of us don't have manners?" Alyssa said with anger expression while pressing her forehead on against the redhead's.

"Well I've seen you and your boytoy eat and quite frankly I'm disgusted. How can you call yourself a lady when you gorge yourself like a pig?" Erza retorted, pushing back with a scowl.

"Like you're one to talk! When was the last meal you had that didn't include cheesecake?"

"You just can't appreciate any delicacy you can't shove down your gullet!"

"And they're at it again." Happy stated with sweat-drop along with Natsu, Cana, Gray and Elfman nodding in response.

"By the way, have you guys seen Lucy?" Elfman asked.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I haven't seen her yet today." Alyssa stated, breaking away from her insult throwing with Erza.

"She's probably still processing everything that's happened." Zeke replied.

"We should go check on her." Natsu chimed in, Happy nodding in agreement.

A bit later, the four knocked on their teammate's front door, but to no avail. As such, Natsu decided to 'knock louder.' And by knock louder, he meant breaking the front door open.

"She's going to be soooooo mad." Happy stated before the group started to look around her apartment.

"Lucy?" Alyssa asked as she opened the bathroom door.

Natsu opened her closet. "She complains about us losing part of our mission rewards and yet somehow manages to buy ten different pairs of shoes. What's the word for that?"

"Hypocrite." Zeke said as he looked under her bed.

"Lucy, are you in here?" Happy asked as he opened a drawer, the contents of which made the cat's fur turn red.

"She's not going be in there." Natsu stated as he looked at drawer before his face also turned red. Alyssa and Zeke looked over too and their faces also turned red.

"Why the hell does she need underwear like this?" Zeke asked.

"Where do you even buy these?" A flustered Alyssa asked.

"Alyssa, Natsu has that weird look on his face again." Happy complained as his father-figure started to fantasize about his girlfriend in the aforementioned underwear.

"Natsu, stop being a..." However, Zeke's imagination started to think about a certain water wizard and he made the same expression.

"Happy, close the drawer!" The orange-haired speed wizard yelled.

A bit later (after some ear-pulling), the group found a box of sealed up letters that Lucy had addressed to her mother. But before they could contemplate why they weren't sent, Zeke found a note from Lucy that said 'I'm going back.' Fearing the worse, the team quickly found out where the Heartfilia property was a high-tailed it.

They arrived at the property hours later as the sun began to set, crying out for Lucy. And sure enough, the four found their teammate standing in front of a memorial which they latter learned was the grave of Layla Heartfilia, Lucy's mother. The Celestial Wizard told them that she didn't mean to make them panic and was just returning to her childhood home to tell off her father for sending Phantom Lord after Fairy Tail. After a heartfelt reunion with the mansion staff, Lucy confronted her father and finally let out all the rage and sorrow she had held back over the years. As it turns out, Jude sent Phantom Lord after the guild not out of any desire to see his daughter again, but because he needed her to marry some business partner's son as part of a deal.

Suffice to say, the rest of her team was pissed at this and even offered a chance to beat up her jerk of a father for her, but she declined having felt she had already told him off plenty. The group then offered a silent prayer to Layla and started to walk back.

"For the record, you could've elaborated more in your note." Zeke stated.

"Ya, Natsu and Alyssa were crying when they thought you were gone." Happy teased.

"You were the one crying, you liar." Natsu said with an angry expression.

"You really shouldn't lie, Happy." Alyssa said in disappointment.

"Why do you always take his side?" Happy cried out, Lucy giggling at her team's usual antics.

"But I gotta say, your hometown is really nice, Lucy." Alyssa commented as they walked past some houses. Zeke and Happy nodded in agreement while Natsu just looked around the town, confused as he felt something...odd.

'Why do I feel like I've been in a place like this? Like it's...somehow familiar.' The dragon-slayer thought before dismissing it.

"Actually, this isn't my hometown. This is just the servant's quarters." The blonde stated, making all of her friends stop in their tracks. She then pointed to a nearby mountain. "The Heartfilia grounds actually extend all the way to the top of that mountain." Lucy walked but noticed her teammates were all frozen with shocked expressions.

"Holy crap! You have this much money and you treat it like its nothing!" Natsu yelled out.

"Unthinkable!" Happy yelled, his brain having a difficult time wrapping around this new information.

"Mountain...quarters...mountain..." Alyssa mumbled in awe.

"YOU'RE THE ONE ALWAYS TELLING US TO BE FRUGAL WITH OUR REWARD MONEY WHEN YOUR FAMILY HAS ENOUGH LEFT-OVER CASH TO BUY PROPERTY THE SIZE OF #$&*ING HARGEON!" Zeke screamed as he shook the Celestial Wizard.

"I didn't think it was a big deal!" Lucy replied as the shaking made her dizzy.

"NOT A BIG DEAL?!" The other four yelled.

All in all, things were finally normal for Team Morningstar once again.


	16. Morningstar, Theater Troupe?

_Chapter 16: Morningstar, Theater Troupe?_

_**Era...** _

"And as you can see, after our strategic retreat from Oak Town, Alzack and Bisca dropped Makarov off at Porlyusica's place in the forest." Lyle explained to Magic Council with the aid of several hologram lacrimas. "We figured if anyone was capable of reversing the damage down to the master, it would be her. Although the two did say that she passed them away with a broom, which is actually pretty normal for her. Anyways, after we had reconvened the guild remains we..."

The Absorb wizard was interrupted by the sounds of snoring. He turned and saw that Master Makarov was asleep on the podium. "Master! We're in the middle of a hearing! How can you..." He heard more snoring and saw that his wife had fallen asleep while standing up. "Amelia, Master! You're making us look unprofessional in front of the council."

The bespectacled man then turned to the council and much to his shock (and disappointment), the Magic Council members were also sound asleep. 'ARE YOU F&^KING KIDDING ME?!' Lyle gave a loud whistle, waking everyone up.

"What happened?"

"Is the hearing over?"

"I was totally not sleeping just now!"

"As I was saying, afterwards, we reconvened at what remained of the guild hall..."

"Thank you, Mr. Hudson." The judge interrupted the Absorb wizard. "You've provided more than enough evidence to prove that Phantom Lord were the aggressors in this case."

"Really? 'Cause I haven't gotten to the part where..."

"Case closed." The judge stated with a bang of the gavel.

"But...I spent all night on my testimony." Lyle stated in sorrow as Amelia rubbed his back in comfort.

_**Back at the partly-rebuilt Fairy Tail Guild Hall...** _

"Good news guys!" An excited Mirajane said from the bar. "We're excepting job requests again!"

Hearing this, most of the guild wizards crowded the job request board. Seeing this brought an amused look from Lucy.

"What's up with them? Normally these guys just lay around the guild all day." She said, earning a giggle from Mirajane.

"Hey, I take offense to that!" The two women turned and saw Zeke writing down some more blue prints. "You don't see me spending my paycheck getting drunk. Except that one time."

"Oh yeah." Mira said with a thoughtful expression as she thought back to the night in question. "That was also the night we discovered that Natsu can't get drunk."

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief at this news. 'A sober Natsu is destructive enough. I'd hate to see what a drunk Natsu can do.'

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that night again!" Natsu yelled, surprising Lucy at his sudden appearance.

"What night? What're you guys talking about?" Happy asked.

"Nothing!" The two male wizards responded. Suddenly, Natsu was forced to evade as a barrel went flying near them.

"Why don't you tell the others how you feel?!" The group turned and saw an angered Erza glaring at Laxus, who was sitting at one of the nearby tables.

"Oh great. Him." Zeke said with a glare of his own.

"I have no problem telling them what I think of them." Laxus said with his usual cocky smirk. "This guild's full of nothing but losers and weaklings." The then turned to Jet and Droy. "Especially you two. You were Phantom's personal punching bags. I'm glad I never bothered to learn your names."

The two injured wizards looked down in shame before Laxus turned to the bar. "Which brings me to the worst of them all. The rich little princess wannabe wizard. This was your fault."

Lucy, Zeke, Natsu and Happy glared at him while Mira said her piece. "Laxus, would you shut up?! The master said no one in the guild was to be held accountable for what happened, not even you. Despite the fact that I begged you to come help and you turned your back on us!"

Laxus just stood up and scoffed. "Stop your whining! That fight had nothing to do with me! But if I had been there, you wouldn't be drowning your sorrows in a pile of rubble right now."

Suddenly, a series of shots went off near his feet and everyone turned to see an angered Alexander with his flintlock out.

"You talk a big game, but I know your kind too well. You were probably too scared to fight and now you're just covering your tracks!"

Hearing this actually made Laxus drop his smirk as he glared at the celestial wizard. Lightning started flowing around him. "You want to repeat that, patchy?"

"I think he's got a point." The blond man turned and saw the wizards of Morningstar and Maelstrom all with their magics ready encase things got ugly. While he did believe he could take all of them, he didn't feel like wasting energy on those he saw as beneath him.

"Think whatever you want about me. It's not going mean a damn thing once I inherit this place and kick all you weaklings to the curve!" The then addressed the rest of the guild. "Your days in Fairy Tail are numbered kids!"

However, everyone started to notice the temperature drop several degrees and saw Ur walking towards Laxus with an angered expression.

'Master.' Gray thought in concern.

"With that attitude, it won't mean a thing even if you do inherent the guild." She said with a tone as cold as her magic.

"The hell are you talking about? Who are you?" The lightning wizard asked.

"If you rule with strength instead of compassion, no one is going to follow any order you give." The ice master stated. "And I'm guessing if they don't follow your orders, you'll beat them until they submit? Am I close?"

Hearing this actually made the blond man chuckle. "Right on the money. But you're saying that like its a bad thing."

"Just look at the Dias Kingdom. I think that's proof enough." Ur stated, the two powerful wizards glaring at each other.

"Whatever. The second I become guild master, you losers are going to have to find a new place to hang out." And with a final chuckle, Laxus vanished in a streak of lightning.

"What a jerk." Lucy said.

"Tell me about it." Zeke said, scowling as he went back to his blue prints. "He thinks that just because he's Makarov's grandson he can do whatever he wants."

"Well, we may not have a choice." Mira sadly stated. "He's on the top of a short list of candidates who can run the guild should the master retire."

Seeing as how the tension was getting to everyone, Alyssa quickly went to the job board and quickly found something to get their minds off the unpleasant encounter.

"I've found our next mission!" The speed wizard exclaimed, getting her team's attention. "There's an evil cult in Lupinus that needs a good asskicking. And Team Morningstar's just the guys and gals to do it."

"Alright!" Natsu cheered.

"Really?" Lucy asked in disbelief. "After all the craziness these last two weeks you want to fight an evil cult?"

"Hey, it's a 250,000 Jewel reward. Plus, they only got like one Earth wizard with them." The amazon responded.

"I don't know." The blonde said.

"Come on, what's the worse that can happen?" Zeke asked.

_**And then...** _

It was a lovely night in the town of Lupinus as the stars twinkled in the sky. At least until a large explosion consumed a warehouse, piercing the silence of the night.

"DAMN IT NATSU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Lucy could be heard screaming.

"You guys told me to do it!" The dragon-slayer retorted.

"I said smoke them out, not blow up the building!" Zeke yelled back.

"There goes my new combat gloves." Alyssa said with glum in her voice.

"Aye." Happy responded with the same level of glum.

_**Back at the guild hall...** _

"So, you're really thinking about retiring?" Lyle asked Makarov as the older man took a swig of beer. The two men were sharing drinks while sitting on top of half-built pillar, the moon shining down on them.

"To be honest, I've been thinking about it for while." The diminutive wizard stated with a solemn look on his face. "Truth of the matter is, the only stopping me is the thought of who would be the next the guild master."

"And you can't leave the position to Laxus." Lyle said, grimacing as he thought about the Lightning Wizard. "If became the guild master, he'd immediately kick out every wizard he thinks as weak."

Makarov nodded before listing off the other candidates. "Mystogan or Amelia have the skills to be masters, the guild can't afford a master who's always off doing something else."

"And then there's Erza, Ur and Zeke. But they're either too young to carry such a responsibility or have been out of touch with the world for too long." The bespectacled wizard sighed before taking another sip of his drink. "It's a tough call for sure."

The older wizard noticed that Lyle had forgot to mention one of the other candidates. "You forgot one other candidate, my boy."

The Absorb wizard raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh my bad. Who did I forget, master?"

Makarov just chuckled at this. "Still so modest after all this time. You put your wife and son on the list of potential masters but neglected to put yourself on it."

Lyle spit out his drink when he heard this. "M-Me?! No, master! I...I couldn't! I mean I'm sure I would do the best job I could but..."

"And that's what made my decision so easy." Makarov said, confusing Lyle.

"You already made your call?"

The tiny man nodded before standing up and looking at the younger man. "Most of the candidates we listed off would jump at the opportunity to be guild master, although they'd probably abuse that power or couldn't handle the stress of the job. But the fact that you never even jumped at the chance shows something that most guild masters then to lack: humbleness. A true guild master must never see themselves as above their peers, but as part of them. He must treat his guildmates as if they were his own children. And who better to personify that then a man who's already a father?"

"Do...do you really mean it?" Lyle said, shocked at what he was hearing and what this was leading to.

"It's a new day for Fairy Tail. We've had more new members this year than any other. In a few weeks, we'll have a new guild hall. It only seems fair for us to have a new guild master as well." Makarov held out his hand. "Lyle Hudson, the title of Fairy Tail's Fourth Guild Master is yours for taking."

A lone tear fell down his face before the Absorb wizard wiped it away and looked at the older man with a determined expression. He took his hand and grasped it firmly. "I accept."

Hearing this brought on a smile to Makarov's face.

"Master!" The two turned and looked down to see Mirajane with a stack of papers in her arms. "It looks like they've done it again!"

"Who did what again?" The tiny man asked as he and Lyle landed in front of the barmaid.

"Team Morningstar. They completed their mission...but they also destroyed a wearhouse containing a large amount of consumer goods." She said with a sympathetic smile before holding up one of the papers. "The town's already sent a list of complaints."

Makarov was about to freak out at Morningstar's latest screw-up, until he remembered what transpired before the white-haired woman appeared. "Actually, this is a good opportunity." He said before motioning to Lyle. "You see, I've just appointed Lyle as the new guild master!"

"Oh that's wonderful!" Mira said with a cheerful smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Hudson!"

The bespectacled man rubbed the back his head, bashful of the praise. That was until Makarov took the papers from Mirajane and shoved them into his arms.

"And one of the duties of a guild master is dealing with fallout of the guild's actions. Including apology letters, compensation forms and complaints."

"Hey wait a minute!"

"Consider this early training, my boy!" Makarov said before yawning. "Oh my, I do believe its time to hit the hay. An old man like me shouldn't be up this late. Not good for my health, no sir."

As the tiny man walked away, Mirajane just smiled, oblivious to Lyle's stunned expression. "Again, congrats, Master Lyle!" And with that, the barmaid walked away, leaving the newly appointed guild master with the large stack of paper work.

"Is it too late to reconsider?"

_**And then...** _

"Uhhhh." Lucy groaned as she laid her head on the bar.

"Feeling down in the dumps, Lucy?" Mirajane asked her blonde friend.

"You can say that." She replied with a sigh. "We were a bigger threat to that town then that evil cult ever was."

"Actually, considering the only thing destroyed was one warehouse, this was actually a personal best for Morningstar." Mira said with a smile.

"Not helping. The damages were still taken out of our reward." Lucy groaned. While she did love her friends, their enthusiasm sometimes tended to drain her. Seeing her down in the dumps, an idea came to Mira's head.

"I think I got the perfect mission for you guys." The white-haired barmaid said with a smile, getting Lucy's attention. "And the best part is that your team won't be able to destroy anything.

_**The next day...** _

"You're sure about this?" Natsu asked as the team walked through the town.

"Hey, all we have to do is draw attention to the nearby theater." Zeke stated. "It'll be a cinch. You and Alyssa do some tricks with your magic, Happy attracts all the girls by being cute, and Lucy draws in the male demographic with her ridiculously large melons."

"Hey!" The celestial wizard yelled out while covering her chest with her arms. "That's sexual harassment!"

"Geez, I was just kidding!" Zeke retorted with a smirk. "Just summon a celestial spirit or something."

"Hey guys! Check it out!" Alyssa said, pointing to the large intricate theater ahead. A few minutes later, the team was lead to the meeting room where their client (an odd looking short man who constantly peeked out from behind a curtain) was waiting.

"Thank you for coming." The director stated.

"No problem." Zeke said as he looked around, noticing the lack of any other personnel. "Already had rehearsals for the day?"

Hearing this brought some sweat to the director's forehead. "Actually...my theater hasn't been doing so good. The recent reviews for my play have been...less than kind. So much so that my actors, my stage hands, even my writing staff quit on me." He then let out a sad sigh. "I guess my dream of making it big in the theater will stay just that."

The director's story really got to the team. As such they decided to help him out. However, after reading the script, they started to see why his troupe was getting such harsh reviews.

"Okay, no offense..." Zeke began as he read the script.

"And here comes the offense." The director sighed.

"But this story is one of the most tired premises ever." The archer stated. "A prince saves a princess from a dragon? Haven't heard that one before."

"I'm with Zeke on this." Lucy said. "This story's been done to death."

"Ya, it does seem kind of boring." Alyssa replied.

"And how come the dragon is always the bad guy? Dragons are awesome!" Natsu chimed in.

"Aye!" Happy chimed in.

"Oh, you're right!" The director cried out. "My former actors said the same thing! But it was the thing I could think of after the writers walked out on me!"

"Then we'll just have to make a new script." Zeke stated.

"But what about the props and costumes?" Happy asked.

"We'll have to make do with them!" Alyssa stated. "Come on, we're Team Morningstar! We can do this!"

"Right!" Natsu exclaimed, sharing his girlfriend's enthusiasm.

"But we're gonna need some help." Lucy said before getting an idea.

After calling up Alexander and the rest of the Star Liberators, the gang went to work on making the next play as great as they could. When they weren't passing out flyers to bring people in, they were rehearsing their new lines, refitting the set pieces, and designing new costumes.

Soon, the opening day came, with Zeke & Lucy handing out posters to passing by civilians.

"Opening night!" Lucy stated.

"Be sure to come!" The brunette stated. But as they continued to pass out flyers, the two big brains of Morningstar noticed a group of familiar looking people.

"Hey, kiddies!" Makarov greeted as he, his friend Yajima from the Magic Council, Lyle, Amelia, Mirajane, Team Maelstrom, Ur, and shocking of all, Moka, Bobo and a few of the Galuna Villagers.

"Master, mom, dad. What're you guys doing here?" The archer asked.

"We heard you were putting on this show, so we decided to drop by." Amelia said while pulling on Zeke's cheek, embarrassing her son.

"Who cares about the play? Why haven't you Fairy Tail brats destroyed the moon yet?!" Moka yelled, making Lucy sweatdrop.

"Haven't we been over this?"

As the group chatted, no one noticed a certain water wizard looking from a distance behind a street lamp, giggling at Zeke's bashful response to his dotting mother.

A few hours later, the assembled wizards turned players started to get into position behind the curtain while the theater seats were packed, much to the director's delight.

"Can't wait to see how Natsu screws up." Gray said as his team sat in one of the balconies.

"Please, if anyone's going to foul up their lines, it's Alyssa." Erza stated as she summoned a pair of theater specs.

"You guys should have more faith in your fellow guildmates! That's the many thing to do!" Elfman yelled.

"Are you guys betting actual money? If so, let me get in on some of that." Cana chimed in as she sipped some wine.

"Cana!" The giant of a man exclaimed.

Meanwhile, a certain harp spirit peeked out from behind the curtain and smiled.

"Oh wow! I've never played in front of so many people before!" Lyra exclaimed.

"You're gonna do great." Lucy replied. The blonde celestial wizard was currently wearing an elegant blue dress fit for a queen with a tiara to match.

"Alright! Places everybody!" The director yelled. "It's almost showtime!"

On a nearby podium, Zeke took a sip from his water and placed his script in front of him before clearing his throat. Soon, the show began, Lyra playing an enchanted tune on her harp as the archer began the opening narration.

"Long ago, there were two kingdoms at war. To the south laid the land of Dias, while the country of Fiore laid to the north. For decades, the two kingdoms clashed, neither side gaining the upper hand. That was until a brave knight joined the fray. A knight who rose from the streets as a beggar and quickly climbed the ranks of the Fiore Royal Army. By combining his skills with the blade and magic flowing his body, this man managed to turn the tide of the war. By slaying Dias' infamous Golems, he built a reputation as the strongest knight in all the land. And his name..."

The curtains opened, revealing several large rock set pieces shaped like limbs. Standing triumphant over a head-shaped piece was Alexander, adorned in silver armor that shined thanks to the stage light. A red cape flowing behind him and his Celestial Cutlass in his right hand completed the guise. A few of the Star Liberators were also dressed as the opposing forces of the Fiore Royal Army and the defeated Dias Royal Army.

"Was Samuel the Brave, Fiore's First Rune Knight!"

The audience cheered at the mention of one of their greatest heroes, the young women of the stage enamored by his confident smile, including a certain white-haired barmaid.

"At long last, this tired conflict is at an end!" Alexander, or Samuel in this case, proudly stated. He plunged his sword into the golem head and raised his fist into the air. "No longer will Fiore be plaugued by these monsters!"

"To Sir Samuel!" A female Fiore Knight cheered. The other Fiore Knights followed suite until the stage turned dark, the stage hands quickly setting up the next scene as Zeke started narrating again.

"But even as the Forty-Year War was ending, their was still evil afoot in the land. In his lair at the edge of the kingdom, a dark wizard was planning his next move. This was a wizard who once served the Fiore Army alongside Samuel, but turned against his comrades for the sake of power. A powerful wizard who creature corrupted life simply by willing it."

The lights turned on again, this time the stage was a dark chamber with a large crystal ball in the center showing an image of Samuel's battle. A chuckling was heard and a figured stepped out from the shadows. It was Natsu, who's hair had been dyed black, wore yellow contact lenses, and an elaborate black cloak with golden edges.

"What a fool." The dragon-slayer said with a surprisingly chilling voice. "He believes that all is well simply because Dias has fallen." He let out another chuckle as he placed his hands on the crystal ball. "Celebrate while you can, Samuel. You and your pitiful excuse for a kingdom. For soon, this country...nay! This entire world shall bask in the greatness of its one true ruler! The All-Mighty Zeref! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As 'Zeref' continued his laughter, a few of the children were the audience were terrified of Natsu's portrayal.

"Huh. So flame brain can act." A surprised Gray stated.

"Master." A man dressed as a demon approached Zeref and kneeled before him. "We are ready to begin."

"Excellent." The dark wizard grinned. "Prepare for the ritual. And make sure the sacrifices are still alive until then."

"Yes, my lord." Soon, the sound of people in pain (which in reality was a few of the stage hands crying from off stage) was heard, bringing chills to the audience. 'Zeref' once again faced his crystal ball, the image shifting to show a demonic red eye.

"Deliora! Heed your master's cry! Go forth and do my biding!"

The sound of a monstrous roar was heard before the scene shifted once. When the lights came back, the scene had shifted to a throne room, with Lucy on the throne with 'Samuel' kneeling in front of her.

"Lady Katiana, I am happy to inform you that this war is finally at an end."

'Katiana' gave a warm smile. "I am already aware of this my knight. The King of Dias has already requested to negotiate the terms of their surrender. As such, he has recently sent one of his councilmen to handle the task."

"Splendid." 'Samuel' stated as he stood up. "Maybe now, our two kingdoms can finally put all the bloodshed behind us and move forward to a better future."

"My queen!" The two turned as Zeke (who was dressed in a light green squire outfit) rushed onto the stage. "My queen! Something terrible has happened!"

"Hey, isn't that the narrator?" A man in the audience asked, recognizing his voice.

"Shush." His wife whispered.

"Speak, squire." 'Katiana' ordered.

"The Dias Councilman...his convoy was attacked!" The squire reported, shocking the queen and her knight.

"Are you certain?" 'Samuel' asked.

"Terribly so." The squire responded. "They were just passing the border, when out of nowhere, they were besieged by...by a monster!"

The queen's eyebrows lowered as she asked her next question. "Did the reports give a description of the beast?"

"Yes, your highness. The beast was several stories tall, had horns on his head, and destroyed most of convoy simply by shouting."

Hearing this made 'Samuel' scowl. "There can be no mistake. The monster attacked the convoy...was Deliora."

"Zeref's attack dog." 'Katiana' finished as a worried expression appeared on her face. "So the traitor has returned."

"My lady, let me go after him!" The Rune Knight pleaded to his queen. "I will gather our strongest knights and wizards so we storm his fortress!"

"Hold your tongue, Samuel." The queen responded. "Many of our forces are still recovering from the war's end. If you took a party of all our able warriors, we would be defenseless if Zeref decides to launch an attack on the kingdom before you reach him."

"But just waiting would be unwise as well." The knight rebutted. "Zeref has the power to create monsters ad infinitum. If we slayed a hundred beasts, he would simply raise his hands and create a hundred more! The only way we can end this threat to slaying the dark wizard himself!"

'Katiana' started to ponder at this new information until an idea came to her head. "Then if we cannot spare our own forces, mayhaps one of the neighboring kingdoms can provide you with the forces you require."

"You mean the Terune kingdom. But they have been neutral in the recent war. Do you truly believe they will be willing to offer us aid?"

"Zeref represents a threat to all kingdoms, not just ours." 'Katiana' stated. "I believe that once you explain the situation, they will be willing to lend you their aid."

'Samuel' nodded and then took a bow. "If this is what you believe is best, I shall do so, your majesty." He then got up and started to walk away.

"Samuel! When you face Zeref, do not let it be a repeat of your last encounter." The queen ordered. The knight placed a hand on his eyepatch and nodded.

"Do not worry, my queen. I have no intentions of losing a second time." And with that, 'Samuel' existed the stage, the lights dimming as the stage hands went to work again and Zeke once again started to narrate.

"And so, Samuel left that night and began his journey to the neighboring kingdom of Terune. Within the week, he crossed the infamous Badlands, fending off bandits and animals aplenty. And soon, he was standing before the Pharaoh himself, where he explained the recent events. The Pharaoh agreed that the threat of Zeref needed to be stop once and for all. As such, he lent Samuel his two strongest warriors. Mala, a woman whose fists could shatter stone, and Kufu, who was well-known for his mastery of magic."

"And so, a trinity of heroes was formed to combat the dark wizard and his forces. Soon, a week had passed and the three were close to reaching Zeref's stronghold in the mountains. However, the dark wizard was well aware of their arrival, and had set a trap for our heroes."

The light turned on again and showed 'Samuel' and his two new accomplices. Alyssa was dressed in dark purple robes with a veil attached an elaborate headdress covering her mouth. The second new addition was Gongji, who was wearing silver robes and carried a brown tome in his arms. The stage had changed to a dark mountain backdrop with a red sky.

After a fight between the three costumed wizards and a large puppet meant to be a crude imitation of Deliora, they once again switched the scene to show the final battle at Zeref's stronghold. 'Mala' and 'Kufu' were forced to keep Zeref's creations (in reality the Star Liberators dressed as demons), 'Samuel' himself stormed into the main chamber and confronted the dark wizard 'Zeref'. As it turned out, his plan was to sacrifice all the people he had locked away (which included most of the defeated Dias Army & their peace envoy) as part of ritual to replace mankind with his monstrous creations. The two opposing wizards engaged in a climatic battle, 'Zeref' attempting to destroy the hero with his 'Dark Fire' (which in reality was Natsu's Azure Flames on their lowest possible temperature), but 'Samuel' managed to deflect the attack by infusing his sword Excelsior with light magic (which was actually Alexander holding the Final Wave energy in his blade for as long as he could.)

"Damn you!" 'Zeref' groaned as he struggled to get back on his feet, staring down his foe. "How are you this strong?! You're just a simple human!"

"That is something you never understood, Zeref!" Samuel said, pointing his shining blade at the dark wizard. "You have always underestimated the strength of humankind, preferring your corrupt puppets over actual allies. That is why evil like you will never win! You lack the courage, the heart, and the unstoppable will of the human race!"

"Oh? Is that so?!" 'Zeref' yelled as he cloaked his fists in 'dark fire.' "Then show me this power, Samuel!"

"Zeref!" The knight yelled as the two charged at each other and collided in a blinding flash of light. The light faded, revealing the two foes facing away for each other. But a few seconds later, 'Zeref' to his knees as 'dark fire' started to spread all over his body, the dark wizard giving his foe a hateful glare.

"You think this is over?! IT WILL NEVER BE OVER! Evil will not die with me! As long there is darkness in men's hearts, evil will never die!" And with that, the dark wizard fell over 'dead', consumed by the 'dark fire'. As his foe burned, 'Samuel' stood up, a triumphant look upon his face.

"And there will always be people like me, willing to stand up against evil." And with the final battle, the curtains closed, the audience standing up, clapping and cheering. The director peeked from behind the curtain and shed a single tear. It had been forever since any of his productions had gotten a decent reaction from the crowd, let alone a standing ovation. And even though Morningstar & the Star Liberators would be leaving the next day, the positive reviews of the play was enough to convince his former staff to return. Within the next few months, 'Samuel the Brave Versus Zeref the Dark' would go on to be a favorite in among the citizens of Fiore.


	17. The Lion Spirit

_Chapter 17: The Lion Spirit_

On the outskirts of Fort Tern, the sounds of battle were coming from a nearby castle. Three explosions blasted apart sections of the castle as the bandits that were held up within launched away.

" _Open, Gate of the Golden Bull - Taurus!_ " Lucy chanted, summoning the axe-wielding spirit. Seeing the oncoming bandits approaching him and his master, Taurus swung his axe downward, knocking them away via a shockwave. The blonde wizard pulled out her whip and swung, knocking two bandits out.

"Lucy, on your six!" Zeke yelled before firing a magic energy arrow, knocking out a bandit that attempted to sneak up on his teammates.

"Thanks." She thanked before turning back to the battle, whip at the ready. She also noticed some bandits with singed clothing running away from the battle. Natsu (with most of his body ablaze) chased after them with a crazed look in his eyes.

"This kid's insane!" One of them yelled.

"He's a monster!" Another one exclaimed.

"Come back and fight me, you cowards!" The dragon-slayer yelled as he gave chase. However, an orange & red blur zoomed ahead and stopped, Alyssa knocking out the bandits with a double clothesline. "Aw, I wanted to fight those guys."

"Sorry, sweetie." The orange-haired amazon said with a giggle. Meanwhile, Zeke noticed that most of the bandits were defeated and dismissed his longbow.

"Is that all of them?" As if an answer to that statement, the last conscious bandit charged at the archer, only to be knocked out by one of Happy's lacrima bombs.

"Yup, that's all of them!" Happy said with a salute.

"You bastards!" One of the downed bandits grunted. "Just wait until Lord Devlin gets here!"

"You mean this gent?" The bandit turned and saw Alexander holding the aforementioned Devlin by collar.

"Unhand you mother..." And the lead bandit was knocked out with the handle Alex's sword.

"Watch your language. There's women present."

"Alright!" Lucy cheered, especially since the only property Morningstar had destroyed was the bandit's headquarters.

"Okay then. Let's go return the treasure." Zeke ordered, the rest of his team nodding in response. Soon, the group was heading back to the town with the stolen treasure in hand (Zeke slinging a bag of gold over his shoulder, Natsu carrying a chest full of jewels, Alyssa pulling a cart full of heirlooms, Lucy & Alexander carrying more bags, and Happy carrying a jewel-covered vase).

"How did these losers manage to steal all this stuff?" Natsu asked.

"Not everyone can spit fire out of their ears." Alexander stated. As the team walked, they were unaware of a certain blue-haired water wizard watching them (or one of them specifically) from a distance. But enough about that, as Happy saw on of his guildmates nearby.

"Hey, isn't that Loki over there?" Happy asked, the group turning and seeing the playboy in the distance, who in turn noticed them and greeted the team.

"What's up guys?" The ring wizard asked.

"Just being awesome." Natsu stated with his usual smirk.

"So same old, same old." Loki replied. However, his composure started to fade as soon as he saw Lucy.

"So, what brings you all the way..."

"Sorry, but I better hit the road! So long!" The orange-haired man quickly cut her off and ran off in the opposite direction.

"What is that guy's problem?" Lucy asked, a bit peeved since this was about the fifth time this month that the playboy ran at the sight of her.

"No idea." Zeke stated as he scratched the top of his head. "Usually he goes after anything in a skirt."

"Maybe he's terrified of blondes." Alexander suggested.

"Nope, I've seen him with at least ten different blondes in the last year." Alyssa responded.

Lucy just sighed and decided to change the topic. "Whatever. Any who, since we finished the job early, why don't we stop somewhere and relax?"

"Sounds great to me." Zeke replied.

"Oh! I know just the place! And it's close!" Alyssa stated in excitement and sped off.

"Alyssa, wait!" Natsu yelled and ran after the speed wizard, the rest of the team hurrying to catch up.

_**And then...** _

As Alyssa said before, the nearby town of Hosenka was a great resort town with an oriental flair. And needing to relax from the mission, Team Morningstar checked into a nearby hotel and were already soaking in the hotsprings.

"Ahhhhhh. That hits the spot." Natsu said as he relaxed in the hot water. Alexander, still wearing his eye patch, nodding in agreement.

"Aye." An equally relaxed Happy followed up.

"You said it guys." A smiling Zeke said as he lowered himself into the water. But even as he relaxed, the archer could've sworn he heard a faint feminine squeak. "Anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" Alyssa replied from the other side of the bamboo border that separated the men & women's side.

"I don't know. But it sounded like Mirajane when she starts pairing people in her head." The brunette stated before shaking his head, dropping the topic.

"Is that so?" Alexander replied, his thoughts shifting to images of the white-haired barmaid blushing. 'I wonder who she pairs herself with.'

"Hey, Alyssa. You want me to come scrub your back?" Natsu asked.

"Oh ho! That's pretty bold, pinky!" The one-eyed wizard commented.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, PERVERT!" Lucy shrieked in embarrassment.

"Aw." Both Natsu and Alyssa replied with disappointment while Zeke and Alexander chuckled. After relaxing the spring for a bit, the team had changed into yakutas provided by the hotel. The archer was finishing the blueprints for his new bow, a smug look making way onto his face. Until he was knocked back by a thrown pillow.

"Ha! Got you!" A certain salmon-haired dragon-slayer gloated as he held two pillows under one of his arms. He then noticed the blue prints on the table. "So you're finally finished with that?"

"Yes. And I was basking in my brilliance before you decided throw a pillow at me for no reason." Zeke stated with a glare, making his friend chuckle. However, Natsu noticed a certain smell that seemed out of place. After quickly looking around the room for the source, he then looked out to the opened backdoor and saw someone peaking from behind a large rock.

"Someone's spying us!" Natsu yelled, igniting his fists before leaping at the rock. The figure yelled in fear, jumping out of the way before the dragon-slayer came down and smashed the rock to pieces. He and Zeke looked and saw a familiar face (at least for Zeke).

"Juvia?!" The archer exclaimed. Indeed, the person that was spying at the two was the former Rain Woman of the Element 4 shaking in fear due to almost being smashed & burned.

"What's going on?!" Alyssa asked as she and Lucy (also dressed in yakutas) entered the room and saw the destroyed rock and shivering woman. "Who's blue hair?"

"That's Juvia of the Element 4!" Lucy said with an accusing point. "She's one of Phantom wizards who tried to kidnap me!"

"Oh no!" Happy exclaimed in fear.

"Oh I see. You're trying get payback for your guild! Bring it on!" Natsu yelled as his head erupted in flames.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah! Hold up!" Zeke quickly said as he stepped in between his best friend and the blue-haired woman. "We don't know that. Maybe she's on vacation."

"Oh yeah. That's why she was spying on us." Natsu said with sarcasm.

"N-no. He's right. I'm not here for vengeance." Juvia replied, recomposing herself as she stood up.

"Then why are you here?" Lucy asked, wary of the water wizard. The rain woman looked at Zeke before blushing and looking away, tapping her fingers nervously together. Meanwhile, Alyssa looked back and forth from the blushing water wizard and her teammate. She then thought back to how concerned Zeke was for Juvia during the battle with Jose and how the lunchbox from his admirer came in the from of a jet of water. Connecting the dots, the orange-haired woman smiled and walked towards the water wizard and Zeke.

"Well, if she's not here for revenge, then we got no reason to fight." The amazonian wizard stated. She then saw the confused face of her boyfriend before whispering into his ear. A look of realization made way to Natsu's face before smirking.

"Got ya."

"So...are we good?" Zeke asked, not knowing what his friends were whispering about while Lucy & Happy looked in curiosity.

"Yep. We're good." Natsu replied, which was all Happy needed to calm down. He then turned to the water wizard. "Sorry about almost hitting you. How about we all go to dinner and make up for it?"

"Eh? B-But I-I don't want to intrude." Juvia replied in surprise.

Seeing a chance to bond with the beautiful wizard, Zeke smiled at Juvia. "It's not intruding you're invited."

Seeing her crush's smile calmed her down and she nodded. "Okay then."

"Wait, what just happened?" Lucy asked in confusion as Alexander walked into the room with a bottle.

"You guys would not believe what they charge for good sake." The blue-haired celestial wizard stated before noticing the scene in front of him. "What'd I miss?"

_**And then...** _

Morningstar and their guest decided to eat at a restaurant notable for it's great cuisine and the head chef's absurdly large forehead.

(Seriously Mashima, what do you smoke to come up with some of these character designs?)

"Natsu, stop staring." Alyssa whispered.

"I can't." The dragon-slayer stated as he looked at the large headed cook. "How is that even possible?"

"Wait, you see it too?!" Alexander chimed in before looking at the sake bottle. "I just thought I was seeing things."

"Say Juvia..." Zeke started, getting the aforementioned wizard's attention. "I never got to thank you for the lunchbox. It was soooo good!" He said with a smile, remembering the heavenly taste.

The blue-haired woman had a light blush and smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

Lucy looked at her teammate and the water wizard with caution. That was, until Happy got in between the two wizards and smirked.

"You loooooooove each other!" The cat teased, making the two blush like crazy (and in Juvia's case, steam started flowing off her body).

"Dude, what the hell?!" Zeke yelled in embarrassment. But before he could yell at the cat some more, Alyssa grabbed Happy by his cheeks and gave them a lit pull.

"Happy, what did I say about teasing people?" The orange-haired woman said with a disappointed look on her face. The cat saw this and felt bad.

"Not to do it unless you say it's okay." He responded.

"That's right."

"He shouldn't be teasing anybody at all!" The archer yelled in frustration. 'I swear to Mavis they spoil that cat.'

"So Juvia, what have been up to since the whole Phantom thing?" Natsu asked. The water wizard snapped out of her blushing state and turned to address the dragon-slayer.

"Well...I've been staying at a motel in Magnolia for the last few weeks."

"Seriously? Didn't you have a place in Oak Town?" Alyssa remembering Phantom Lord's hometown.

Juvia sighed. "I did. But I did some calculations and came to a horrible result." She laid her head on the table in defeat. "Even with all of reward money saved up, I wouldn't be able to afford the rent. So I had no choice but stay somewhere else."

"Man, talk about a tough break." Natsu stated, feeling a bit bad for her.

Seeing her so sad caused Zeke's chest to tighten and for once, he blurted out something without a second thought.

"If you need work, why don't join Fairy Tail?"

"EHHHHHHH?!" The other five Fairy Tail wizards and Juvia responded in shock.

**The next day...**

"Hmmm." Makarov said as he looked over the nervous water wizard. The short man walked behind her and looked at her backside. "Interesting."

"Master, are you done yet?" Zeke said, an anger vein appearing on his forehead.

'Oh, it's no use!' Juvia thought to herself. 'They're not going to forgive me, let alone let me join their guild. I'll just be forced to live off the streets!'

"Okay, you're in." Makarov said nonchalantly, surprising the water wizard and making Zeke smile.

'Yes!' The archer thought to himself.

"R-Really? Even after all that happened between our guilds, you're fine with letting me join?" Juvia asked.

"Well, it wouldn't be right to blame for their crimes. After all, you were probably just following Jose's orders." Makarov stated. "Besides, Zeke's one of our smartest wizards. If he approves of you, then you must be special."

Juvia looked at the archer, who had a light blush on his face and was looking away. Seeing this and hearing the kind words of Makarov, she started to tear. Of course, for a water wizard, tearing up means a waterfall coming from her eyes, freaking out Makarov and a few nearby wizards. "Thank you so much! I promise I won't let you down!"

"Um...no problem." Makarov said with a sweat drop. Meanwhile, the rest of Morningstar was watching from the distance in amusement.

"So you really think Zeke's got a thing for her?" Natsu asked.

"Well, it is kind of obvious." Alyssa replied.

"He looooooves her." Happy said with a smirk.

"They actually do look kind of cute together." Lucy said with a giggle.

And so, the day went on as normal (well as normal as it gets with Fairy Tail). The two things of notice that was Juvia getting a blue guildmark on her left thigh (the sight of which caused Zeke to have a sudden nosebleed) and a few of Loki's girlfriends coming by and crying that he broke up with them. While a few of guildmates found it weird, they just regarded it as part of the ring wizard's antics.

Later that night, Lucy bumped Loki while she was on her way back from the local bathhouse. After releasing he had no reason to be nervous around her, the two shared a drink while looking up at the stars. But when the two saw a falling star, Loki said something that Lucy found to be a bit odd. That once the stars fall from the sky, they could never return to heaven. She figured it was a lame pick up line, making him chuckle before turning away. In a low voice, he said that he knew he could be a real pain, but was glad they could actually have a decent conversation.

But what Lucy found odd was the way he said it. He sounded like it was his last conversation. Curious, she summoned one of spirits, Crux the Southern Cross, to look up which celestial spirits Loki had encountered in the past. While Crux did find the information, he couldn't give any extensive details due the confidentiality between wizards and spirits. However, he was able to tell her that Loki was once connected with the Celestial Wizard Karen Lilica, a now deceased celebrity wizard from Blue Pegasus who had died on a job.

With this new information, Lucy tried to think about what the connection was between the two. She pulled out a few of her old Sorcerer Weekly magazines that featured Karen, including one article that stated her favorite spirits to use were Aries the Ram and Leo the Lion. She then thought about what Loki said about the stars falling from heaven and Karen's death, which was reported to be caused when she attempted to summon a spirit, only for none to appear.

As she started to put the pieces together, Alyssa barged into Lucy's apartment with the news that Loki had quit Fairy Tail and ran away. After she explained that Loki had been acting weird lately, the blonde had a feeling she knew where he was and ran off to look for him.

While the majority of the guild searched the town, the missing wizard was standing in front of gravestone with the Blue Pegasus guild mark. The grave was on a cliff overlooking a waterfall, the ring wizard looking at it with melancholy and guilt.

"There you are." The orange-haired man turned and saw Lucy walking towards him. "The whole guild's looking for you." She then saw what he was looking at. "That's Karen's grave, isn't it?"

Loki was shocked that Lucy knew about this. "She was a great celestial wizard, and she had a contract with you, right? The sprit Loki. Wait, that's not your real name. Your name is Leo. Leo the Lion."

The two looked each for a bit before Leo gave a smile. "Well, I won't deny it. But how did you find out?"

Lucy gave her own smile. "Don't forget, I'm a Celestial wizard. I have contracts with a lot of spirits. It wasn't that hard to dig up the truth." Her smiled faded as she continued the conversation. "Still, you should've come to talk to me or Alexander about this. Normally when a Celestial Wizard dies, their contracts with the spirits are terminated. The spirits then return to their world until someone else finds their gate key and a new contract is formed. Your contract with Karen should've ended when she died, yet you're still here. Even though, your kind can't survive in our world for long."

"You're right." Leo replied, his eyes having a tired look to them as he spook. "It's been about three years now."

"T-Three years?" A shocked Lucy asked. "I didn't even know one was possible."

"Pretty amazing, huh? But I don't have the strength to keep it up anymore."

"Hold on!" The blonde exclaimed. "There's gotta be someway I can help you! Why don't I just open a gate for you? Tell me why you can't go back to the spirit world!"

"You don't need to save me." The lion spirit stated grimly. "There's no way I can go back."

"But why?"

Leo looked at the grave once more before he spoke up. "I broke a fundamental law that applies to both wizard and spirit. As a result, I was banished from the Celestial World for all eternity."

"Loki, just what did you do?" Lucy asked as he turned back to face.

"I can't deny my crime, so I have to face my punishment. I'm traitor to my kind. I was contracted to Karen, but she died...because I killed her."

Hearing this shocked Lucy to her core. The thought of a celestial spirit killing their wizard was almost unthinkable. Seeing as he was going to fade away into nothingness, Leo decided to tell Lucy this tale. Three years ago, Karen Licia was one of the most popular wizards in all of Blue Pegasus. While most of the men adorned her and the women hated her, in secret, her was a sociopath. She was constantly abusive to her spirits, treating them more like property and shields than living beings. In particular, most of her cruelty was directed at Aries, the Ram Spirit. One day, after Master Bob had confronted her about her abuse, she reasoned that Aries went behind her back and told the guild master about her cruelty. As punishment, Karen was planning on keeping the Ram Spirit locked up in the human world for seven days. Fearing for life, Aries seemingly went back through the gate.

But before Karen could resummon her, Leo manifested himself instead, switching places with Aries. While he couldn't attack her due to the contract, he did have an ultimatum for Karen. That was to release him and Aries from their contracts with her or he would stay in human world until then. The longer he would stay, she couldn't summon another spirit. And since he was using his own magic, her depleting reserves wouldn't affect him. Leo decided to wait at the ruins near the town, waiting until Karen made up her mind.

For the next three months, Leo stayed withing the ruins. Karen would continuously come to see him, begging to come back with so she could take jobs. But he was obstinate, not backing down until she released him and Aries from their contracts. During one visit, she said that she would treat Aries better, but he could easily see through her lies. In anger over the fact that she hadn't made any money in over month, Karen took all her anger out on Leo, stomping on him while declaring that once he was dead, she would make Aries work like a dog just to spite him. Even still, Leo refused to obey her and stayed in the human world, determined to let her abuse continue.

But then one day, Master Bob came to visit Leo at the ruins, a grim look on the guild master's face. In an act of desperation, Karen took a job and attempted to summon another spirit. However, doing so drained her of all her magical energy. As such, she died during the mission. Hearing this utterly devastated Leo. While he hated her for all of horrible things she did to the celestial spirits, he never wanted her to die.

"It was my fault." He said with tears in his eyes. "When someone dies, they're gone forever. I wish I could bring her back, but it's just not possible. The only way I could make things right...is if I were to die too."

And indeed, Leo fell over, the last of his lifeforce almost gone. Lucy rushed to his side, even as his body started to fade.

"I guess...this is it. It's time for me to disappear, forever."

"No! You can't just give up!" The blonde yelled.

"Don't be sad, Lucy." The fading spirit said with a fake smile. "I've been waiting for this. I'll finally be free. Free from the guilt of her memory. But before I go, I want to thank you. You've restored my faith in celestial wizards."

"Wait! I can save you!" Lucy cried out. "You can't give up yet!"

"Please...tell everyone in Fairy Tail...I said goodbye."

With her lips quivering, Lucy punched the ground in anger. "It's not fair! I won't let you die! All you have to is go back and your lifeforce will be restored! There's gotta be a way I can send you back!"

'What? Even after hearing what I did, she still wants to help me?' Leo thought to himself as he stared at the wizard. "I'm afraid that's impossible. I broke the law and I'm being punished."

"Even so...this isn't right!" The blonde cried out. "You didn't kill Karen! It was just an accident! It wasn't your fault!" She cried out, placing her arms around the fading spirit.

"Lucy."

" _Open, Gate of the Lion! Take Leo back to the celestial world!"_  She chanted in desperation. "Please! Open!"

"It's won't work! It's okay." Leo replied.

"It's not okay! I can't just sit here while my friend disappears before my eyes!" As she said this, a blue magic circle appeared underneath the two. Something that seemed like a segmented chain appeared from the circle, hovering around the two of them in protective circle. " _Open, Gate of the Lion!_ " Lucy yelled again, her magical energy manifesting around them, the chains seemingly reacting and spinning around them.

"Stop! You're going to use up all of your magic energy like this!" Leo exclaimed.

"Whatever it takes! I'm gonna save you, Loki! I'll open your gate! I won't give up! I promise, I'm going to get you back to the Celestial World!"

"Wait..."

 _"OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! OPEN_!" Lucy yelled once again, the wind started to go crazy around them and the chains spinning even faster.

"It won't open for you!" Leo yelled back. "As far as their concerned, I'm responsible for Karen's death! They won't let me go back!"

Even hearing this, Lucy refused to give up, feeding more of her magic energy as she tried desperately to open the gate, even as her body started to fade.

"Don't do this Lucy! You're starting to assimilate with me! If you don't stop this, you're going to disappear too!"

"I won't give up until the gate's open!" The blonde declared. "I won't let you die! What's the point of having magic powers if you can't even save the people you care about?!"

"Don't do this!" Leo pleaded. "Please don't let me live with the guilt of killing you too!"

"You didn't kill her!" She yelled back. "Whoever decided you were responsible...NEEDS TO KNOW THAT THEY WERE WRONG!"

Suddenly, the magical energy disappeared, the glowing chains stopped spinning, and the two were knocked away, Leo's glasses falling. But before they hit the ground, they were stopped in midair, time freezing around the two. They looked up and saw the stars spinning in the sky and water rising upward. The stars and water coalesced into a large portal.

"W-What's going on?!" Lucy asked in fear.

"Impossible. It's him." Leo said in shock. "The celestial spirit king."

The light faded and revealed an absolute giant of figure. Silver and gold armor covered his thirty story body, a blue cape flowed behind him, a large white moustache was adorned on his face, his skin as blue as the sky, his eyes red, and a horned helmet with red tassels on his head.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"He's the king?" Lucy asked in astonishment. "Like the ruler of the spirit world?"

" **Hello, my old friend**." The king greeted with a kind yet commanding voice. " **As you well know, both spirits and wizards must obey Celestial Law. And taking the life of a keyholder is forbidden under any circumstance. Though not by your hand, you are still responsible for your keyholder's death, Leo the Lion. Therefore, you have been banished from the Celestial World for eternity."**

"Hold on!" Lucy yelled as she stood up. "That doesn't seem fair at all!"

"Lucy, stop!" Leo begged.

" **Old friend, human girl. I have made my judgement and it stands. Leo has broken Celestial Law.** " The King stated. Even so, Leo was still baffled by his appearance.

"Loki's been suffering in the human world for three long years! He didn't kill Karen! But he did stand up to her because someone had to protect Aries!" The blonde stated.

" **I must say, I do find it heartbreaking to see my old friend in such condition**."

"What is wrong with you?!" Lucy asked, anger clear in her voice. "An old friend is still a friend, right? Well there's one in front of you right now, asking for a second chance! So open your eyes, Stache-face!"

Hearing the insult caused the king to raise an eye. " **Stache-face?** "

"Um...Lucy?" Leo said in fear of what the king would do.

"Karen died because she took on a job she couldn't handle! He had nothing to do with it!" She continued. "You have to change your verdict because he's innocent! Please sir!"

Lucy's body took on a golden glow and the chains started to spin again. Seeing this, Leo bit his lips and yelled at her to stop it.

"It doesn't matter if the verdict is changed! I'm not looking for forgiveness! I want to disappear and finally be free from this guilt!"

"I won't let you!" Lucy yelled as her magical energy started to fluctuate again. "You disappearing isn't going to bring Karen back to life! All it's going to do is create more sadness! You did nothing wrong, because it can't be a crime to protect the people you care about!"

And much to Leo and the Celestial King's shock, something miraculous happened. From Lucy's magic, all of her Celestial Spirits appeared, standing defiant along with their keyholder.

'She summoned all of those spirits at once?! Not even Karen could do that!' He thought to himself as Lucy looked back at him.

"What about all your friends? Are you just going to leave them? If you were die, you'd leave me and Aries and everyone else behind! Think about us, and how miserable we'd be without you!"

Leo looked at saw his old friends, looking at him with determination. However, they faded away along with Lucy's glow, the blonde falling to her knees. Yet despite that, the chains were still spinning around them.

"Lucy!" He yelled as she fell over. But even with most of her magic drained, she just clenched her fists and got back up.

"All of my friends who just came forward just now. They feel the same way I do."

"You're friends?" Leo asked as she looked back up at the King.

"And you're a Celestial Spirit too. You can simpathize with what Loki and Aries went through."

"Will you stop?!" Leo begged. "If you keep this up, you're going end up like Karen! Don't risk your life to save mine!"

The Celestial King looked at the two for a bit before speaking again. " **Hearing you speak so highly of my old friend...has lead me to think that maybe it is not his actions, but the law itself that should be brought into question. Leo was forced to commit his crime to protect Aries and his brethren. And the human girl has risked her life to save Leo. I am so moved by your bonds of loyalty, I shall make an exception in this case. Leo the Lion, you are hear by granted return passage to the Celestial World**."

Leo didn't know what to make of this. Just the fact that the King reversed his verdict was unthinkable to him. As he thought of this, Lucy looked up and gave the king a smile and a thumbs up. "You're awesome, Stache-face."

And in response, the King just a big smile of his own before addressing Leo again. " **You are exonerated. Be thankful to the guidance of the stars."**

Even still, Leo still felt the guilt of what happened. "I have to make it up to her, please sir!"

 **"Very well then."**  The Celestial King stated as he started to fade back to his world. **"If you insist on atoning for your past actions, then I hear by order you to live life in the service of your friend, the human girl."**  Hearing this, tears made way onto Leo's face. " **You're lucky to have found such a loyal friend. I suggest you protect her with your life, just as she fought to save yours.** "

And with that, the King disappeared and time started to flow normally again, the sun starting to rise. The two stood up and looked at each other, one smile of relief, and the other smiling with joy.

"Lucy." Leo said as he held out his hand. Lucy took his hand with own and he started to pass through the gate with a peaceful look. "I just wanted to say, thank you."

Finally, Leo passed through the gate, leaving his golden key in Lucy's hand. However, even while she was happy that her friend was going to live, she noticed that the chains were still floating around her.

"What's going on? Shouldn't these have disappeared?" She said, believing that the King had manifested them. However, when she reached out to touch it, the light shattered and revealed that it wasn't a chain, but segmented pieces of a blue & silver blade connected via a silver wire. Soon the pieces came together into a single short sword, a blue & golden handle manifesting. On the handle was two sliding golden pieces that came together to cover a keyhole. As the blade fell and Lucy caught, she came to a realization that excited her. She knew exactly what this was.

This blade was her Celestial Arms.

_**Later that day...** _

"Woah, you're a celestial spirit?!" Natsu yelled in shock at Leo.

"No way! Really!" Happy asked, the spirit rubbing the back his head in embarrassment.

"Ya, sorry I never told you."

"Wait, how come you look so...normal?" Alyssa asked, remembering how bizarre some of Lucy's spirits were.

"Virgo has a human form. It's not like we're all animals." He stated.

"He's actually a lion spirit." Lucy chimed.

"No way! A lion's like a grown-up cat, right?" Happy asked before glomping Leo. "You're the coolest spirit ever!"

"You're telling all of that actually happened?!" Alexander asked Lucy. "You meet the Celestial King, summoned all of your spirits at once, and even manifested your celestial arm?"

"I know, I'm still reeling from what happened." Lucy said as she looked at her arm, a sense of pride coming over her. A cloud of sadness appeared over the male celestial wizard as he placed his head on the bar counter.

"I thought I would be the one teaching you. But clearly you should be teaching me."

"Speaking of which, could you show your celestial arm?" Zeke asked, ready to take notes on it. Nodding, Lucy stood up and held out her sword. And with the flick of her wrist, the sword separated into its segmented pieces. "A snake-sword. Nice."

"I know right." Lucy said as she gave it an experimental swing. Unfortunately, she didn't realize what direction it was going it and ended slashing up a nearby table Alzack and Bisca were eating at.

"What the hell, Lucy?!" Bisca yelled.

"Sorry!" Lucy yelled as she quickly drew it back, however she pulled too hard and it went above her, slicing through a part of the bar roof. "Oh come on!"

"Heh. Looks like you do need teaching." Alexander said, feeling a bit better that Lucy wasn't an automatic expert with her weapon. The universe was at least somewhat fair.

"Aw man. That's going come out of pocket." Lucy groaned at the damage she had accidentally caused.

"Hey, I got something that might cheer you up." Leo said, pulling six tickets out of pocket and presenting them to Lucy. "They're tickets to this awesome beach resort. You did so much for me so it's least I can do."

The group was automatically thrilled at the chance to go to such a resort. "I already gave one to Juvia. I hope you guys have fun."

"Wait, why did you give one to Juvia?" Zeke asked.

"Oh don't act like you don't want to see her in a swimsuit." Leo teased, causing the archer to have a fullbody blush while he stuttered.

"All right! I'm ready to go right now!" Natsu cheered. "Bring on the beach!"

"I'll go start packing!" An excited Alyssa exclaimed, rushing quickly to Fairy Hills, passing by a confused Juvia in a blur.

"Ah, the sea! My old friend!" Alexander said with nostalgia as he, Natsu and Happy left to go pack as well, leaving the blushing and stuttering Zeke behind. Meanwhile, Lucy and Leo were talking.

"Lucy, I'm always going to have to live with what happened in the past. But now, I have the courage to start moving forward. Thanks to you, I'm not just another member of Fairy Tail. I'm you're Celestial Spirit." He looked at her with honest determination. "Now that you're my wizard, I promise to always protect you. I'll be there whenever you need me, your valiant knight."

Hearing this brought a smile to Lucy's face. "I'm not just your wizard. I'm one of your friends too."

"Of course." Leo said with own smile as he started to go back through the gate. "I can't wait to work with you. Take care, Lucy."

"Right back at ya." She replied as he fully went through, holding his key in her hand. "It's gonna be awesome, I'm sure." Pocketing the key and placing her celestial arm where her whip used to be, the blonde left to go pack for the trip.


	18. The Majestic

_Chapter 18: The Majestic_

Akane Beach was one of the most popular beach resorts in all of Fiore, well-known for its five-star hotel, joint amusement park, casino and large beach. Hundreds of visitors were enjoying themselves while a certain Fairy Tail team was changing into their swimwear.

"Juvia, you ready?" Lucy asked as she stood outside of the changing booth. The blonde was wearing a daring white & pink bikini that highlighted her curves.

"Just about." The water wizard said before pulling the curtain back. Her swimsuit consisted of a frilly purple bikini top with white polka dots and a matching bottom covered by a short skirt.

"Cute choice." Lucy commented, making the blue-haired wizard a bit bashful.

"Well, I have been saving it for a special occasion." She stated, wondering how Zeke would react to it.

"You guys ready to go?" The two turned and saw Alyssa wearing an orange one-piece swimsuit, the garment tightly embracing her muscular physique. Seeing this made the two retreat to a corner with twin emo auras.

"Suddenly, I feel very inadequate." Juvia glumly stated.

"I know what you mean." Lucy replied as Alyssa looked on, confused at her friend's behaviour.

_**Meanwhile, with the guys...** _

'Loki was right.' Zeke said as put on a pair of green & black swim pants. 'This is like a bra for a guy's junk.'

"Hurry up, Zeke! Time's a wastin'!" Natsu yelled.

"Alright, alright." The archer answered and existed the changing room. He saw that Natsu had tied his scarf around his forehead like a bandana and was wearing red swim trunks, Happy was wearing yellow trunks and a swim cap, and Alexander was wearing a dark blue speedo. The guys took their beach supplies and set up their spot.

"Hey guys!" The guys turned and saw the girls approach them. And upon seeing the swimsuit-clad Juvia, Zeke quickly covered his nose from shooting blood.

"Z-Zeke, are you okay?" A concerned Juvia asked, blushing as she looked at his shirtless torso.

"Yup. Just a sec." The archer replied, quickly wiping away the blood before looking at the water wizard with a blush. "You look...nice."

"Thanks." She said with a bashful smile. "You too."

"You loooooove each other!" Happy said, making the two blush even more.

"Looking good, Alyssa!" Natsu whistled.

"Thanks, babe." The amazon said as she embraced her boyfriend. Juvia looked in confusion as it appeared like the air around the couple was sparkling.

"Natsu."

"Alyssa."

As the two repeated each other's names, Juvia turned to her fellow guildmates with a titled head. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Yes." Zeke, Lucy and Happy sighed while Alexander chuckled. After Natsu & Alyssa snapped out of their 'couple trance', the group decided to have a boys vs girls volleyball game (Natsu & Zeke vs Alyssa & Lucy) while Juvia, Happy and Alexander watched from the sidelines. The game proceeded normally (or as normal as one gets with wizards), until Alyssa spiked the ball hard.

"I got..." Natsu yelled until he was smacked by the ball and collided with Zeke, the two falling on each other. And while this wasn't a big deal to them, a certain water wizard looked at them and had a different...interpretation.

_Juvia's Imagination..._

_The air sparkled around the two, a very bishonen-looking Natsu looking down at his friend with concern. "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"_

_An equally bishonen-looking Zeke turned away with a light blush. "N-No, I'm fine."_

_"Good. I couldn't bare to see you hurt." Natsu said as the two looked in each other's eyes._

_What actually happened..._

"I thought you had it!" _Zeke_  yelled as he pushed Natsu off him.

"Sorry about that." Natsu said as he dusted the sand off of himself.

"That's 10-9!" Alyssa cheered as she and Lucy high-fived each other.

"Not for long!" Natsu yelled as he quickly served the ball again, the game continuing as Alexander looked on in amusement while a confused Happy was poking a steam-covered and daydreaming Juvia with a stick.

After the game had ended with Natsu & Zeke winning, the group continued their day at the beach. From sand castle building to swimming, the group took a break, Lucy & Alexander going to get snacks for the group.

"You know, you've been spending a lot of time with us." Lucy said to Alexander as the two walked back to the group with an armful of snacks. "Any reason for that?"

Alexander just shrugged. "To be honest, Marianne was the one who insisted I spend some time with you guys. Something about hanging out with people my own age."

Before Lucy could ask him to more, she suddenly heard someone yell...

"YOU!" The two celestial wizards turned and saw two brown-haired brothers glaring at Alexander. "You're the one-eyed bastard that robbed us!"

"What?" Alexander said with a deadpan expression.

"It was two years ago? A yacht off the coast of Tarune?" The other brother asked in anger.

"You're gonna have to more specific. I've plunged a lot of yacht." Alexander replied, making Lucy sweat drop.

"Wait, is that the guy who robbed me?!" A woman yelled.

"Holy crap it is!" Her boyfriend yelled. The two wizards a large group of angry people approaching them, or Alexander to be more specific.

"Well, Lucy. It seems like you'll have to bring the food. I gonna have to deal with this." Alexander said as he piled the snacks onto Lucy's pile, making her wobble a bit. The blue-haired pirate looked at the gathered group of anger people he robbed with a serious expression before pointing into the distance. "Oh my Celestial King! There's a couple of different social classes making love in public!"

The rich folk turned around, giving Alexander a chance to run away. When the mob realized this, they started chasing after the former pirate while Lucy watched in stunned silence before walking towards the rest of her friends, who were currently burying Alyssa up to her head.

"I got lunch!" Lucy said, getting their attention.

"Awesome!" Natsu said. Zeke however noticed the missing blue-haired wizard.

"Where's Alex?"

"He had to deal with some...old friends." Lucy said with a sweat-drop. The group was about to ask her more, until they saw Alexander running from the people he robbed.

"Oh come on! Like you needed all of that money!" Alexander yelled as he continued to run away.

"Should we help him?" Juvia asked.

"He's got this." Natsu replied. And just as the dragon-slayer stated, Alexander managed to lose his pursuers and the group continued their day until the sunset. After which, they retreated to their rooms and started getting ready for a night at the casino.

"Come on, Zeke! Let's go!" The salmon-haired wizard (who was dressed in a red dress shirt, long brown khakis, black dress shoes and his scarf around his neck) said as he knocked on the door. Alyssa stood next to him (who had her hair in a bun and was wearing an orange dress with a matching jacket and flat shoes), tapping her foot impatiently while Happy sat on her shoulders.

"You're not gonna wear that again, are you?" The amazon asked.

"Hey guys!" The group turned and saw Lucy (who had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing a green dress), Alexander (who was wearing a dark blue suit and black gloves), and Juvia (who was wearing a dark red dress with a golden Fairy Tail emblem necklace) walked towards them.

"Hi guys." Happy answered.

"Where's Zeke?" Juvia asked.

"I'm ready to go!" The six turned and saw the aforementioned archer walk out of his room. The brunette wore a black three-piece suit, dress shoes, white gloves with his pendant around his left wrist, a monocle over his right eye, a black top hat and a cane in his right hand.

"What?" Lucy asked with a deadpan expression.

"Don't you think you're overdoing it?" Alyssa said with a sigh.

"It's called appropriate attire." Zeke replied before winking at Juvia, making the water wizard blush. "Anyway, let's hit the casino!"

"Aye!" Happy replied as Natsu and Alyssa linked arms, the group heading for the casino for a night of gambling and fun.

_**And then...** _

"Come on, 17!" Natsu cheered as he watched the ball rumble machine. So far he had two other 17s on the top right and bottom left. All he needed was the center ball to be 17 and he would win.

"Don't be mean, 17!" Happy chanted with him.

"Come on, 17, 17, 17, 17!" The dragon-slayer cheered as the last ball stopped on the display. But much to his irritation, the number that appeared was 37. "Screw you 37!" Natsu yelled, slamming his head against the display console.

Meanwhile, Zeke, Lucy and Juvia were at the card table while Alexander was taking a spin at the roulette. As this was happening, Alyssa was looking for an open game. She then heard a bunch of groaning and turned, seeing a crowd gathered around a table. On one side were three men in an arm-wrestling match with a large musclebound man with black hair, a matching beard, and a suit. With a yell, the large man slammed his hand down, causing the three men to groan in pain.

"HAHA!" The bearded man gloated. "That's what you get for taking on the Mighty Brutus! Now pay up!"

The crowd and the defeated men gave over their betting money to the large Brutus. "Anyone else want to try and beat me?" Alyssa looked at the large man and smiled before walking towards the table.

"I'd like to try." She said, making the crowd and the arm-wrestler look at her in surprise, especially since Brutus was three heads larger than her.

"Ha! You think you can handle Brutus, lady?"

"I'm betting 3,000 Jewels I can." The orange-haired woman said, placing the money on the table. Brutus smirked and bet the same amount of jewels on the table.

"Don't go crying when you lose, honey." Brutus said as he put his arm up on the table. Alyssa just smirked and took off her jacket, stunning the onlookers with her muscular physique as she sat down and grabbed Brutus' hand. The referee blew a whistle and the two started their match. Brutus started to push against his orange-haired opponent, but much to his shock, the woman didn't even flinch. Then with a simple push, Alyssa slammed her hand down and sent Brutus down in shock.

"So, I'll take my winnings then." Alyssa said with a smirk.

"Y-You just took me by surprise." Brutus groaned. "Double or nothing!"

"Sure thing." The amazon stated with a smirk. Within a matter of seconds, Alyssa had beat Brutus, leaving the crowd baffled. This happened five more times, leaving Brutus clutching his arm in pain while Alyssa raked in her winnings.

"Hail to the Queen, baby!" The speed wizard gloated.

_**And then...** _

After a few hours at the casino, the wizards retired to their rooms. Lucy had changed into her pajamas the laid down on her bed. She thought about how her life had turned, how she went from having a lonely childhood and that now she had an expanding group of friends and other associates with the rest of the guild. She looked at her Celestial Arm as it was placed on the nearby night table. Alexander and the others had promised to help her with her training. However, her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of bed springs coming from the room next to hers. In a bout of curiosity, she placed her eyes against the wall and soon a blush came across her cheeks as she heard moaning from both a man and a woman. But Lucy suddenly realized that she recognized the voices of a certain couple she knew.

With her entire body turned red, the blonde celestial wizard covered her ears with her pillow and went under the blanket. 'Why does this keep happening?!' She yelled in her mind, thinking back to her encounter with Alexander and Mirajane in the guild's archives, only the naughty stuff was actually happening instead her just assuming it was.

In another part of Fiore, a group of poachers were moving through the forest. While the poachers carried swords and pistols, the largest of them was pulling a cage with a child inside of it. The boy had silver hair, bruised pale skin and amber eyes. His outfit consisted of torn brown clothing, the torn-up back of his shirt revealing two large silver wing tattoos. While the boy could not speak (the poachers would quiet him if he made any noise), he felt the pain and sadness from his capture. He looked up at the star-filled sky, wanting more than anything to be free and flying. But it seemed fate had other plans for the young boy.

_**To be continued...** _


	19. Forest Encounter

_Chapter 19: Forest Encounter_

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Ask that one more time I'll use you as a hat!" Lucy yelled.

"Waaaw! Alyssa, Lucy's being mean to me!" Happy cried, flying into the amazon's arms. The seven wizards were walking through a forest with the goal of making it back to Magnolia. The reason why? A certain dragon-slayer didn't feel like taking another seven hour train ride to get home. The only one who really had a problem with the long walk back was Lucy, but she quickly simmered down, although she did point out something.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Lucy asked.

"No, we're not." Zeke said as he looked at a map. "We just need to take a right at the next lake."

"Far enough. But where's the lake?" Alexander asked, noticing a lack of water in the distance.

"I have to agree with Alex." Juvia begrudgingly said, not really wanting to disagree with her love interest. "It doesn't look like there's any water anywhere."

"Look, my great-uncle spent seven years charting this forest. I think his map would be fairly accurate." Zeke replied, a bit irritated from the lack of fate he was receiving. Natsu looked over his friend's shoulders, raising his eyebrow at something.

"It's upside-down."

"What? No it..." The archer took a second look at the map and his body turned white in shock and embarrassment.

"It was." He whispered, making the rest of the group (minus Natsu) fall down in shock. "We were suppose to be heading Northwest, not Southeast."

"Great, just great." Lucy groaned as the group got back up and started heading the right direction. Eventually, the group stopped to set up camp for the night around sunset. Natsu went hunting for dinner, Juvia and Happy started setting up the tents & fireplace, and Alyssa & Alexander decided to help Lucy out in her Celestial Arms training while Zeke took down notes.

"You're putting too much force into your swings." Alexander said as he deflected the blonde's snake-sword with his saber. "The Celestial Arm is an extension of yourself. You have to treat as if it's an extra-limb."

"Got it!" Lucy said as she retracted the blade back into its sword form. She then attempted to block Alyssa from behind, but she was too slow and got knocked on her face.

"You got to be quicker than that if you're up against more than one opponent!" Alyssa stated as her friend got back up.

"Well then, try this on for size!" Lucy exclaimed as she pulled out Virgo's key and held it out. "Virgo, please lend me your power."

A blue magic circle appeared behind Lucy and a corporeal version of the Maiden spirit appeared next to her.

"Of course, Princess." The spirit nodded before vanishing. The hidden slot split open, Lucy inserting the key and turning it. The sword split into floating pieces around the circle before the blonde aimed it at Alyssa. The segments took on the golden glow and launched at Alyssa. Naturally, the speed queen evaded the projectiles. The evaded attack hit a nearby tree, tearing it apart before the pieces disappeared and reappeared as the sword.

"Not bad." Alexander said as he rested his saber on his shoulder. "But if you want the spell to be really effective, you got to give it a powerful name."

"Oh, like your Final Wave, right?" Lucy asked, getting a nod from her fellow Celestial wizard. At the camp, Zeke continued to look at the training wizards and taking notes in his journal. As he was doing this, Juvia looked at the archer with a tilted head while she was setting up the fire pit.

'What's he writing down?' The water wizard thought to herself. She looked back at the training session and noticed Lucy's bosom having a slight bounce as she evaded Alex's shots. 'No, he couldn't be! Could he? I mean, I've heard of guys that draw dirty pictures of women for...self-gratification. But Zeke wouldn't do that! He's been nothing but a gentleman to me! But then again, they say the innocent looking ones end up being closet perverts!'

As her body started steaming from her scandalous thoughts, she took a look at Zeke as he was writing more stuff down. 'M-Maybe I can just take a peak. Make sure he's not doing anything weird. But I have to discreet about it!'

Zeke continued to write his journal until he heard faint breathing over his shoulder and signed. "If you wanted a peek, all you had to do was ask."

Juvia squeaked and quickly got up with a blush of embarrassment on her face. The brunette held up his journal for the water wizard to take. Cautiously, Juvia took the book and started looking through it. But much to her relief, the journal lacked any kind of elicit drawings. Instead, it contained notes and drawings of various wizards, weapons and magic.

"Pretty dull, huh?" Zeke said, knowing that most of his friends didn't get his categorizing hobby.

"Actually, these drawings are pretty good." The water wizard replied, surprising the archer.

"Really?" He asked, getting a nod from Juvia. The water wizard noticed there was two pages dedicated to her. The portrait of her face was nicely detailed and even the drawings of her using her magic looked good.

"So, you like drawing?" The blue-haired woman asked before taking a seat next the brunette.

"I guess." Zeke replied, a light blush making way onto his face from the close proximity. "I mean, I'm no professional by any means. But I think I'm okay." He took another look at Juvia as she read his journal, the sunset making her hair take on a shine along with her skin.

'She's more beautiful up close.' The archer thought to himself, subconsciously moving closer to the water wizard. Juvia turned to talk to Zeke, only to freeze up when she realized how close their faces were. The two looked into each other's eyes, moving slightly closer to each other.

'Our lips are so...close.' Zeke thought.

'Should...should I go for it?' Juvia thought as the two of were inches away from each other, moving in closer. They started to close their eyes until...

"HEY GUYS! Check out what I caught!" Natsu exclaimed as he carried a 500 pound wild hog over his shoulders. "Who's up for pork chops?"

Snapped out of their intimate moment, Zeke and Juvia's bodies flushed completely red, the two quickly turning away from each other in embarrassment.

'Damn it!' Juvia cried out in her head.

'Natsu, your timing sucks!' Zeke yelled in his head.

"Oh well. Better luck next time." Happy commented to himself, having seen the whole thing.

_**Later that night...** _

After dinner and bathing, Team Morningstar turned in for the night to their own tents (Natsu & Alyssa sharing one). However, the orange-haired speed wizard got up in the middle of the night to relieve herself. Since she was sleeping before, Alyssa was wearing a red t-shirt, shorts and a pair of slippers.

But as she walked past the bushes, Alyssa heard the sound of crying. "What the hell?" She walked towards the direction of the noise, using a tree for cover before looking at a nearby path. And what she saw was a group of men & women in silver armor, armed with pistols and swords. Two of armed strangers were pulling a cage with the bruised silver-haired child still crying.

'Oh my god.' The orange-haired woman thought to herself in horror.

She looked on as the boy cried in the cage, only to be socked by one of the armored women. The amazonian woman scowled at this. 'Okay, these guys are definitely not on the up and up.'

With her mind made up, Alyssa sneaked towards the back of the cage, the boy turning his head and spotting the sneaking speed queen. Before the child made a noise, Alyssa held her finger to her lips to silence him. She then placed her hands on the cage and started to slowly vibrate the metal.

"Do you guys hear something?" One of the men asked.

"Meh. You're probably just hearing things." Another one answered. However, the cage then blasted apart, getting the attention of the guards.

"What the hell?!"

"The beast is free! Kill it!" One of the armored men yelled and fired his pistol. The boy covered his head his arms in fear, only to be shocked from the lack of pain. The amber-eyed boy looked up and saw Alyssa standing over him with her clenched fist held out. The amazonian woman opened her hand, dropping five bullets to the ground.

"I-I didn't even see her move!" One of the women said in fear.

"She's a speed wizard!" One of the men yelled, trying to shoot Alyssa, only for her to a repeat of her earlier action, using superhuman speed to pluck the bullets out of the air. After dropping the bullets, Alyssa glared at the armored individuals and cracked her knuckles.

"My turn." She said before dashing towards them, socking one of the women in the jaw before turning her attention towards the others, evading shots and sword swings as she fought them off. The silver-haired boy watched in amazement as the woman took on his capturers single-handedly. However, he noticed one of the with his sword drawn, ready to stab at Alyssa while her back was turned.

"Look out!" The boy yelled as he ran towards the man, the wing tattoos on his back starting to glow. And in a blinding flash of light, a pair of elegant silver wings emerged from the boy's back. With a burst of sudden flight and speed, the boy tackled the man into a tree, knocking the armored figure out. The boy wobbled away, feeling a bit of the impact as his wings vanished. Tired from his confinement and sudden burst of action, the boy started to fall backwards, only to be caught by Alyssa, who had finished her battle with the currently knocked-out posse.

"Are you okay?" Alyssa asked the tired child in her arms.

"Thank...you..." The boy whispered before fading into unconsciousness. Assuming the worst, Alyssa quickly ran back to the camp with the boy in tow. As soon as she left, a few of the armored figures groaned as they got back up.

"Bitch." One of the men groaned before pulling out his pistol.

"No." The female leader said as she held her hand out. "It's obvious that we're outmatched."

"So what? We let her get away with the creature?" One of them asked.

"We might have to." She said as she pulled out a crystal-clear orb. "For now, we should get the hell out of here and report to Lady Fuyu."

And with that, the armored figures ran (or as much as they could with their injures) into the night. Back with Alyssa...

"Guys, wake up! We got an emergency!" The orange-haired woman yelled as soon as reached the camp. The rest of the group got up, a few of them rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"Alyssa?" Natsu asked groggingly, his eyes widening as he saw the injured boy in his girlfriend's arms. "Who's that?"

"I didn't get his name. But he's hurt." She replied. Hearing this, Lucy and Juvia quickly set down a blanket and pillow for the child to rest on while Zeke quickly grabbed his medical kit. As this happened, the boy dreamed. Dreamed of the times before the cage. Before his freedom was taken.

_**Later that night...** _

"My lady, we have...a problem." Michael said as he kneeled before the masked woman.

"What is it, my knight?" She asked, the emerald light of the cathedral shining off her garnet mask.

"One of our hunting parties was ambushed a few hours ago."

"Which one?"

"The Fianna Team. They claimed that they were attacked by a speed wizard."

"I see. And what of the creature?"

"She took it with her."

Hearing this made the woman clench her fists. "Damned heathen. Do we know who this speed wizard is?"

"We do. She's Alyssa Grunewald of Fairy Tail."

The masked woman thought to herself about the familiarity of that name. She then remembered a newspaper article she read about a group of Fairy Tail wizards (identified as Morningstar) who defeated the demon flute Lullaby in Clover. She also recalled her anger upon seeing the image of a certain dragon-slayer. The masked woman held her head down and started to chuckle, confusing the blond man. "It seems destiny has a cruel sense of humor."

"My lady?" Michael asked. But to his surprise, the masked woman placed her gloved hand on his face, making him blush.

"We cannot let this sin go unpunished. Michael, I want you to take a team with you to the town of Magnolia. Teach the speed wizard and the rest of her team what it means to disrupt our great mission and retrieve the monster."

"O-of course." Michael said as he stood up and turned to leave.

"One more thing." She said, getting the young man's attention. "Bring the one called Salamander to me, alive. I want to punish him personally."

Michael raised his eyebrow at this, but quickly decided to drop it. After all, his Lady's wishes were to be followed to the letter.

"Be cautious, my knight. From what I have heard, Morningstar is a formidable team." The woman stated. "They won't be defeated so easily."

"I understand, Lady Fuyu." Michael said with a determined expression. "I shall use the utmost caution in dealing with these sinners."

And with that, the dirty blond left the room, leaving Fuyu to her own thoughts. She turned towards the skylight and put her hands together, giving a silent prayer. "Benevolent Creator, please grant your followers safety for the coming battle. Let them punish the sinners who dare to defy your word."

_**And then...** _

He was flying. His wings flapping as he soared through the skies. The euphoria of flight and the beautiful sight of the mountains and clouds made him truly happy.

But suddenly, the sky turned into a terrifying red. Several looming figures appeared over him before his wings disappeared. Without them, the boy started to fall, screaming as he descended to his death.

"AHHHH!" The boy yelled as he sat up, panting and sweating from the nightmare. After getting his bearings, he looked around and noticed that he was on a bed in some kind of hospital room.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're finally awake!" The boy turned and saw the orange-haired woman who rescued him from before. He backed up a bit in confusion and waryness.

"W-where am I?" The boy asked.

"You're at the Fairy Tail Guild."

"Fairy Tail? Guild?" He asked in confusion. He then looked at the mark on the woman's face and titled his head in confusion.

"Ya. After you fainted, we brought you here to treat your injuries." She replied with a kind smile. "I'm Alyssa, by the way."

The boy stayed silent for a bit, looking wearyingly at her before introducing himself. "I'm Ven."

"Well then, Ven. Would you like something to eat?" She asked. Feeling the emptiness in his stomach, Ven nodded and Alyssa got up to get the food. As she left, Ven tried to remember how he got to where he was. He remembered Alyssa rescuing him and then he recalled...everything that happened, clutching his sleeve.

A bit later, Alyssa was heading back to the medical wing with a tray of food. But when she approached the room, she heard some crying and slowly peaked in. Ven was sobbing into his arms, the orange-haired woman feeling bad for the silver-haired child as she saw a vision of an orange-haired girl in the same position from several years back. She stepped back and knocked on the door, giving the boy a chance to wipe his eyes.

"Here you go." Alyssa said as she placed the tray in front of him. The boy looked at the food before digging in. As he tasted the first food he had in days, a few tears came to Ven's eyes.

"Thank you!" He said between bites. "Thank you!"

After Ven had finished eating, Alyssa tried to ask the boy about how he got trapped by the armored poachers. However, whenever she attempted to get the information, Ven would freeze up and curl up in a ball. Seeing as how the boy was clearly distraught, Alyssa simply held the boy in her arms, letting him sob until he fell asleep. After tucking him in, the orange-haired wizard left the medical wing and headed towards the partially built main hall, seeing Natsu and Happy (who was sleeping on one of the tables) waiting for her.

"How is he?" The dragon-slayer asked.

"He's had some food." She replied. "But he doesn't want to talk about what happened. The only thing I learned was his name, Ven."

"Well, at least that's something." Natsu replied before noticing the distant look in his girlfriend's eyes. "You alright?"

The speed wizard thought for a bit before replying. "He had the same look I used to have. Back when I first came to Fairy Tail."

Hearing this made Natsu's eyes widen. "You don't think..."

"I can only hope it isn't." She said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, praying to whoever would answer that her guess was wrong.

Meanwhile, a group of five observed the night-draped town with Michael at the front.

"So, this is Magnolia." A barrel-chested gray-haired man with a matching bushy moustache and red eyes stated. His armor was red with silver shoulder spikes and matched his massive frame, a large double-sided axe strapped to his back. "I'm not impressed."

"I think it looks pretty." A petite brown-haired woman with yellow eyes and a flowery yellow dress with armored gauntlets chimed in. "Oh, I think I see a bakery from here!"

"Who cares?" A gothic-looking girl with purple hair and matching eyes groaned. She wore a smaller set of black armor and a spear strapped to her back.

"Sunshine's right! It's all gonna burn anyway!" A crazed man with spiky blond hair, brown eyes, a red t-shirt with a cartoon 'KABOOM!' on it, long black jeans, armored gloves, and a bandolier of bombs wrapped across his chest.

"Hold your tongue, Ivan." Michael stated, interrupting the giggling man.

"Come on! Just let me toss a few bombs here and there and BOOM! No more wizards!" Ivan yelled, rubbing his hands in glee.

"A frontal assault would be suicide. Remember, this a town full of people who could blow off your head with one look." Michael chastised his fellow blond before addressing his comrades. "We must play the long game. Observe our targets. Find out their strengths and weaknesses. We wait until they're at their most vulnerable." He then pulled out his rapier. "And when the time is right, we slide the knife."

In another part of town, Zeke was walking home with a book in his hands. The book was called 'The Tribes of Fiore', the pages of which had pictures and drawings of people with silver hair, wings marks and actual wings. 'The Wincar Tribe are a group of nomadic magic users who mostly live in the mountains. Their most notable features are their silver hair and the wing marks on their backs. These marks allow a Wincaran to manifest powerful wings and access to wing magic. The Wincaran also believe that the Wind is were all souls are born and return there upon death.'

After reading this, the brunette archer tried to theorize why a Wincaran child would be kidnapped. From what he had read so far, they were a frugal people who lived off the land. As such, ransom was crossed out as the motivation. Another possible motivation Zeke thought of was something a bit more gruesome; experimentation. And with that grim thought, the brunette entered his house and walked past his dinning room table, not paying attention.

"Good Evening, Zeke." A male voice greeted.

"Hey, Reggie." The archer greeted back. He then revised what happened, stopping and walking backwards towards the table. Sitting there was a young man with strawberry blond hair, blue eyes behind circular glasses, a black vest with a white buttoned up shirt underneath, black gloves, dress pants and loafers. Hanging from his left wrist was a pendant shaped like an X in a circle and he was currently taking a sip of coffee. Also on the table was a strap-locked briefcase with a stylized green H in a circle.

"Reggie? What're you doing here?" Zeke asked his cousin (on his mother's side). "Oh god, please don't tell me the Thunder Legion is back in town!"

"Three things. 1). Stop calling me Reggie. It's Reginald. 2). No, the rest of the Legion are busy doing jobs elsewhere. And 3). I'm mostly here to play courier." Reginald answered, passing the briefcase on the table to the brunette. "With all you've accomplished recently, Great-Grandfather Marcus believes you've earned this."

Zeke put this book on the table and then proceeded to open the briefcase. And when he saw the contents of the case, a gleeful smile akin to a child receiving a Christmas gift made way onto his face. "No freakin' way!"

Inside of the briefcase was a set of dark green gloves with white-colored fingers. However, the most striking thing about the gloves were two lacrima tops with solid green arrowheads inside of them. "This isn't a joke, right?"

"Nope. You're looking at the genuine article." Reginald replied, amused at his cousin's reaction. With excitement, Zeke put on the green gloves, the arrowheads within the crystals shining for a brief second. After feeling a quick rush of magic, Zeke clenched his fists, getting a feel for his new equipment.

'It's about damn time.' The brunette thought to himself with a smile, admiring the new gloves. "So, what finally made Great-Grandpa decide to give me a set?"

"Are you kidding me? In the last few months, you've dealt with two of Zeref's demons, completed an S-Class quest, and Aunt Amelia told the elders about how you held yourself up against Jose. Plus, word through the grapevine is that you finally took the initiative to build yourself a custom bow instead of using the basic longbow." Reginald explained. However, Zeke was still admiring his gloves, caught up in his own prideful glee. As such, the blond decided to let his cousin bask as he went back to drinking his coffee.

_**The Next Day...** _

"The new guild hall's coming along nicely." Reginald stated as the three Hudson men stood outside the partly-rebuilt building.

"Well, we do have two wizards with speed magic and a giant." Lyle commented.

"Morning, Zeke! Morning, Mr. Hudson!" The three turned and saw Natsu, Alyssa and Happy walking towards the guild.

"Ah, Natsu, Alyssa, Happy! It's been too long!" Reginald greeted by shaking their hands.

"Reggie! Haven't seen you in forever." Natsu greeted with his usual smile.

"How've you been doing?" Alyssa asked.

"Fine, until you called me Reggie." The strawberry blond man joked. The group entered the guild hall and saw Lucy having breakfast at one of the tables. Zeke introduced his cousin to his new blonde teammate while Alyssa went to check up on Ven.

"Good Morning, everyone." The seated group turned and saw Juvia walking towards them.

"Hey, Juvia." Zeke greeted with a smile, which the water wizard reciprocated. As the two began to chat, Reginald looked at the two with a smirk before cutting in between them, looking at Juvia.

"So, you're the blue-haired bella that my cousin's become smitten with." The bespectacled blond teased, making the two blush.

"Um...well...I wouldn't..." Juvia stuttered before realizing she didn't know this person. "Wait, who are you?"

"I am Reginald Hudson the Third." He introduced himself with a bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Madame Lockster."

Getting over her bashfulness, Juvia smiled and took a bow as well. "A pleasure to you as well."

"Beautiful and Well-Mannered. You've got good taste, cousin." Reginald teased.

"Could you please stop?" The brunet said with luminescent blush on his face.

"Well, look who's back from vacation!" The group turned and saw Team Maelstrom walking towards them, Elfman being the one who greeted them.

"Morning, guys." Zeke greeted before suddenly feeling a gust of wind. He looked to his side and saw that Reginald was gone and looked back towards the other team. The bespectacled young man was on his knees and holding one of Erza's gauntlet covered hands.

"Erza dear, it's been too long since I was last graced by your beauty." Reginald said with a charming smile.

'Oh boy, I know wear this is going.' Lucy thought to herself, thinking that Zeke's cousin was going to get bashed for flirting with Erza. But much to her shock, the requip wizard's cheeks became as red as her hair.

"R-Reginald, w-when did you get back in town?" Erza stuttered out.

"Last night." The bespectacled blond stated, chuckling as he saw her blush. "So, how about we catch up over breakfast? My treat."

"Um...I'd l-love to. B-But I h-have to p-polish my new a-armor." Erza stuttered, quickly pulling her hand back and started to walk away. "S-So we'll h-have to do this another time."

"Such a shame." Reginald said, feigning disappointment. "And I just learned about a new cheesecake recipe from Couras."

Hearing this made the redhead stop in her tracks and slowing turn her head back. "Come again?"

"And such a wonderful flavor. The perfect mix of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. But, I guess I'll have to cook it another time."

"On second thought, we do have a lot to talk about!" Erza exclaimed, grabbing Reginald's hand and the two walked off, Erza's eyes shining with glee and Reginald smiling as he was dragged away from the guild.

"What just happened?!" A confused Lucy exclaimed.

"He loooooves her!" Happy said in his usually teasing tone as Zeke and Natsu nodded in agreement.

"Reggie's had a thing for Erza since we were kids." The dragon-slayer explained to his blonde teammate with a bemused smirk.

"Ya, I got that. But what's up with Erza's reaction?" The Celestial Wizard asked.

"You've seen how stubborn she is about fighting and missions." Zeke stated. "You think she'd be less stubborn when it comes to romance?"

But before this conversation could continue, Alyssa walked back to the group. However, she was being followed by Ven, who was peeking out from behind the amazonian woman's legs and looking astonished by the sight of the half-repaired guild hall.

"Hey, little guy." Natsu greeted as he kneeled down to the silver-haired boy's level. "I'm Natsu." Ven titled his head in confusion at a certain feature of the dragon-slayer.

"Why is your hair pink?" He innocently asked, making Natsu drop to the floor while the rest of Morningstar laughed.

"It's not pink! It's salmon!" He yelled.

"Oh." Ven said before taking a seat at Morningstar's table.

"So, Ven. Do you want to talk about what happened yet?" Alyssa asked, trying to be as careful as she could about the topic. Ven's face saddened a bit but then looked up at the woman and nodded.

"I was just having flying around the mountain, having fun. I mean, that's what most of the kids in my tribe do." The boy started to say. "But when I came back down, I was suddenly trapped in a net. I think I was hit on the head, 'cause I latter woke up in a cage with a bunch of strange-looking people around me." His eyes started to water as he continued his story. "I asked them what they were doing, but they just called me a monster and told me to shut the hell up."

As he started to sob some more, Alyssa hugged him in comfort. "It's alright."

"Ven, do you know where your home is?" Zeke asked, only for the boy to shake his head.

"I've never left the mountains before."

The group about this for a moment before Lucy had an idea. After a quick trip to the archives, the blonde pulled out a picture book of constellations. She then opened up the book to Ven and asked him if he recognized any of the constellations. And sure enough, Ven found one that he recognized.

"That's the constellation of Declan the Hunter." Lucy stated as she looked at the information underneath the image. "It can only be seen from the Fianna Mountain Range."

"Fianna...Fianna..." Zeke mumbled to himself as he looked through his info-lacrima. But when he found information on the aforementioned mountain range, his eyes slightly widened. "Yeesh. That's a month-long trek by carriage. Even longer if we go by foot."

The Wincaran's head lowered at this, only to feel a comforting hand. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, Ven. We'll bring you back to your home safely."

"R-Really?"

Alyssa just smiled and held out her pinky finger. "I promise from the depths of my heart."

"You can count me in!" Natsu said with his usual smile.

"Me too!" Happy stated.

Zeke and Lucy nodded in agreement. Seeing that these strangers were willing to help him, even though they couldn't have known for less than a day, brought a tiny smile onto the boy's face. "Thank you."

_**And then...** _

After explaining the situation to Makarov and Lyle, Team Morningstar (minus Juvia, who needed to take a few jobs to pay her rent and Alexander, who was working with the rest of Star Liberators to rebuild the Jabberwocky) spent the next few hours readying themselves for the long journey ahead of them. Soon enough, the five wizards arrived at the edge of Magnolia with all their supplies and started heading Southeast, where the Fianna Mountain Range lay faraway.

"So, is everyone all packed?" Zeke asked, getting a nod from everyone (except for Ven, who was now wearing a white t-shirt, grey shorts and sandals that Mirajane provided him with). "Alrightly then. Let's go!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy proclaimed as the group started their long journey to bring their young friend home, unaware of the fact that they were being followed by five figures.

_To be continued..._


	20. Ambush

_Chapter 20: Ambush_

It was midday as Team Morningstar was trudging through the Northern Woods. In order to figure out a precise path, Happy was currently flying up and taking notes of the surrounding area as the rest of the team were walking on the ground (Ven being awestruck by the cat's ability to grow wings and fly). The blue cat flew back down and landed in front of the group.

"No signs of the mountains yet." The small cat said with a salute.

"We probably won't see them until we're at least 10,000 kilometers in range." Zeke said as he pocketed Happy's notes.

"Great." Lucy said with a hint of sarcasm. 'My feet are already killing me and we're not even close."

Natsu stopped walking with the group and turned his head.

"What is it?" Alyssa asked (as she carried Ven on her shoulders). The dragon-slayer looked a few feet behind them for a bit before turning around.

"I thought I heard something. Must've just been a stray animal." He stated before the group continued their journey. However, Natsu's first instinct was right, as a certain group of five were observing the wizards, protected by a strange distortion effect of some kind.

"Um, Alyssa?" Ven asked.

"What is it?" The tall woman asked the boy on her shoulders.

"W-Would it be alright if I flew around a bit?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Alyssa said with a smile. She placed the silver-haired boy on the ground. Ven took in some air before the wing marks on his back started to glow and manifested his wings (which Zeke quickly took notes on).

With a quick flap of his wings, the silver-haired boy took off into the air as the older wizards watched. And soon enough, the familiar euphoria of flight and the feeling of the flowing wind came over the winged boy. And once more, at least for now, he was at peace.

_**And then…** _

With night falling over the forest, Morningstar had set up their tents and were fast asleep, each of them dreaming of different things.

_Happy's Dream…_

_The blue cat was walking through the forest before clouds started forming overhead. At first, the tiny feline thought it going to rain. However, what came out of the clouds was not rain, but various types of fish, much to his enjoyment._

" _Oppa!" Happy cheered as his favorite food rained down from the sky._

_Lucy's Dream…_

" _And the winner for 'Best New Writer' goes to...Lucy Heartfilia!"_

_The audience clapped their hands and tears came down Lucy's eyes as she walked towards the stage to receive her reward._

" _Thank you all. This...this is truly an honor._

_Zeke's Dream…_

_The brunette archer entered his house, but much to his surprise, his nostrils were bombarded by the smell of delicious food._

_"Welcome home, darling!" A certain blue-haired water wizard greeted him with a smile. She was wearing a dazzling blue sundress that added to her beauty, even showing off a modest amount of cleavage._

_"Juvia?" Zeke asked, confused by the water wizard's presence. "What're you doing here?" 'And why did you call me darling?'_

_"I thought you could use a good meal after a long job." She answered, gesturing to the dinner spread on the table. "Or maybe..."_

_She slipped her dress down a little to expose her shoulders as she gave him a sultry look. "You'd like to eat me instead?"_

_Alyssa's Dream…_

_Two foes faced each other inside of a coliseum, each of them exhausted and covered in bruises or scratches. However, the red-haired combatant fell to her knees, her swords clanging against the ground and her hands holding the rest of her up._

" _You...you are the better wizard." Erza said to Alyssa, who was huffing and puffing at near exhaustion. The orange-haired woman raised her right arm into the air with a smile and the audience started to cheer for the victor._

" _Hail to queen, baby!"_

Yes, most of Team Morningstar were in the midst of good dreams. However, there were two that weren't having the same comforting dreams. One was Ven which while lessened in intensity, he was still having mild nightmares about his kidnapping. The other was Natsu, who was groaning as sleeping mind was in disarray.

_Natsu's Dream…_

_A screaming woman…_

_A house on fire…_

_A man with a knife through his chest…_

_A girl telling him to run…_

_A boy running through the woods with tears running down his face…_

Suddenly, the six were woken up by the ground shaking and a large crashing sound.

"What was that?!" Lucy (who was dressing in a white t-shirt, pink shorts and had her Celestial Keys & Arm) exclaimed. The rest of the group got out of their tents (Zeke in a pair of black shorts, a t-shirt and his Ascension gloves, Alyssa wearing an orange shirt and sweatpants, and Natsu wearing his scarf and baggy pants) and saw that a massive straight crevice had appeared in the middle of their camp ground, stretching for miles. Natsu's enhanced hearing picked up footsteps and turned.

"Consider that a warning." Michael stated as he approached the camp with his rapier drawn out.

"Who the hell are you?" Zeke asked as he summoned, his bow and readied an arrow.

"I am Michael Alejandro, Archbishop of the Holy Crusaders." The blond man said, introducing himself before pointing his sword in Ven's direction, scaring the boy and making him hide behind Alyssa. "I believe you've meet some of my colleagues when you freed that...thing." He said with a hint of disgust. "So I'm going to give you a choice; surrender Salamander and the Wincaran, or else you will all die this night."

"Like hell that's gonna happen!" Natsu exclaimed as he sucked in some air. " _Fire Dragon Roar!"_

The salmon-haired wizard unleashed a torrent of fire at the mysterious blond man. But much to everyone's shock, Michael dispersed the spell with a single swipe of his blade.

"Death it is."

Zeke heard a chuckle in the distance and saw some airborne objects reflecting the moonlight. With his quickest reactions, the archer unleashed a quick barrage of arrows, causing the objects to explode and make Natsu, Alyssa and Ven jumped away from the blast as it destroyed their tents.

"Aw, come on man." Zeke looked up and saw Ivan crotching on nearby branch. "No one likes a premature explosion."

Another person leaped from the bushes with his axe raised over his head. The group was forced to evade as the axe fell to ground, shattering the ground as it hit. "Hear this heathens! Tonight, you face the axe of Gerome the Wizard Slayer!"

"Wizard Slayer?!" Lucy yelled in fear.

"I don't think so!" Alyssa yelled as she burst ahead towards the armored man. " _Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!"_

In a matter of seconds, the amazonian woman unleashed one hundred punches at her opponent's torso and face. But even with his face bruised by the attack, the man was still standing and his armor was undamaged, Alyssa feeling a bit of a sting on her fists.

"That was dumb." The gothic woman stated as she and her petite comrade walked out from the shadows, the gothic woman now sporting spiked gauntlets on her hands while the dress-wearing woman pulled two pistols out her dress sleeves as she giggled.

"Time to grant these heathens the sweet release of death!" The dress-wearing girl said, still maintaining her bubbly smile.

"Oh great. More crazy people." Zeke groaned as the six reconvened and stood back to back in a circle while the five Crusaders surrounded them.

"Repent." Micheal stated before the battle began again.

_**Elsewhere…** _

A silver-haired woman was chained up in a windowless brick cell, her clothes consisting of nothing but rags. Her eyes had black circles underneath them, indicating the lack of sleep she had gotten. She thought back to what lead her to this situation and started to tear.

" **You're not gonna start crying again, are you?"** The occupant of the next door cell asked. " **I've lost enough sleep thanks your sobbing."**

She just ignored the voice and continued to tear up.

" **Great, just great."** The other prisoner said with a groan. " **I swear, when I find a way out of damned cell, I'm killing you first. Then I'm gonna eviscerate that masked bitch."**

Hearing this just made the woman's sorrow grow and she thought back to the most important person in her heart.

'Ven, please be safe.'

_**Back at the fight…** _

When the Crusaders charged at Morningstar, Alyssa ordered Happy to take Ven as far away as possible. The dress-wearing girl attempted to shoot the airborne cat and kid down, but Happy was able to swerve out of the way of the bullets. After that, the group continued their battle.

"Kaboom, baby!" Ivan yelled as tossed five more grenades at the group that exploded. Unfortunately for him, the grenades went off near Natsu, who proceeded to consume the flames before it reached his comrades. The dragon-slayer smirked up at the bomb tosser and gathered fire around his hands.

" _Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"_ Ivan and the two female crusaders were forced to evade the strings of fire. Germone however was undeterred and leaped once again, readying his axe for another downward swing. But he was intercepted by Alyssa bursting upwards at him and knocking him back with a Vibration Punch.

Michael evaded his falling comrade and rushed towards his opponents. Lucy saw this and blocked the rapier with her Celestial Arm. The two exchanged blows for a bit, but Michael had upper hand due to his longer experience with sword fighting. The two were pushing their blades against each other when the crusader called out, "Talia, now!"

The goth woman (now identified as Talia) rushed past the two and clocked her right arm, ready to strike the Celestial Wizard. But much to the Crusaders' surprise, a figure emerged from a golden light and knocked the gauntlet wearing woman away. The light faded and revealed…

"Loki!" Lucy cheered as pushed back Michael. The auburn-haired Lion Spirit was now decked out in a black suit with a red tie and blue-tinted sunglasses. "How did you get here? I didn't summon you."

"I'm the boss of the Gold Zodiac. I can cross through the gate no problem." The spiky-haired wizard explained before looking around at the battle. "So what's going on here?"

"I'll explain later! Long story short, they're the bad guys!" The blonde wizard explained as she flicked her wrist, changing her Celestial Arm into its snake-sword form.

"Got it." He replied as he pulled on his suit and a golden glow started to form around him.

"Whatever." Talia said as she clenched her fists, blades coming out of the gauntlets.

In another part of the battle, the dress-wearing woman was attempting run in the direction that Happy took Ven, but her path was quickly blocked by magic arrows landing in front of her.

"Sorry, but you're not going after them." Zeke stated as he pulled back on his bowstring, a stern expression on his face. Unlike before, the arrow and magic circle manifested as soon as he pulled the string to its limit without him having to gather up energy. This was because of the lacrima embedded in his gloves. "So just give up before I turn you into a pin cushion."

The woman just giggled again and pointed her guns at the archer. "You're pretty serious for a magic using heathen."

'That's the third time they've called us heathens. What's that about?' The brunette thought to himself before the two started evading and unleashing barrages of magic arrows and bullets. Zeke managed leap behind a tree and pulled the string to ready his next spell. " _Arch Shot: Tracer Arrows!"_

He quickly fired three arrows that swerved towards his opponent, which she evaded. She quickly noticed the arrows turning around towards her again and waited until the last second to evade as the arrows hit the ground. She quickly turned and fired a barrage of bullets. Zeke evaded the shots that perforated the tree he was using as cover. The green-eyed wizard quickly readed another spell, this time aiming at the gun in her left hand.

" _Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!"_ With a swirling arrow, Zeke managed to knock the gun out his opponents' hand. But to his surprise, the woman just giggled again and pulled out another pistol from a holster underneath her skirt, forcing him to evade once for as she fired.

"I'm called Effie of the Hidden Guns for a reason." She taunted as the two readed their respective weapons once more.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was forced to run from an explosion as Ivan tossed more explosives from atop a tree branch, cackling as he did so.

"Run, run, run, 'tiny'! But you can't evade my bombs forever!" The manic bomb tosser exclaimed as he flung more grenades at her. But much to his shock, the orange-haired woman caught them in a burst of speed, spun quickly and tossed them back at his position. Ivan jumped out of the way as the bombs blew up the tree, making Alyssa smirk.

'Got ya!' " _Speed Queen: Twin Twister!"_

And with a yell, the crusader was hit by the twin blasts of winds and was knocked into a tree, knocked out from the impact.

Natsu however was not having as the same luck as his girlfriend as he battle Gerome. His spells seemed to only annoy Gerome and his physical attacks almost did nothing, making the barrel-chested crusader chuckle. And strange enough, he was starting to feel tired, even though he had barely been fighting for more than two minutes.

"Your feeble flames can't melt my armor, boy!" The bushy mustached man stated. Hearing this just made Natsu scowl as he slammed his fist and palm together.

"You want to test that theory?!" And with that exclamation, azure flames erupted from the dragon-slayer. Germone raised his eyebrow before raising his axe again and swung down, unleashing a powerful blast of force from the swing.

" _Fire Dragon Roar!"_

The attacks collided and created a massive explosion that unrooted the nearby foliage. Gerome tried to see the past of smoke that appeared because of the colliding attacks. But unbeknownst to the large crusader, his salmon-haired opponent managed to run behind him and launched at the axe-wielding man with a blast of azure fire. Gerome was taken by surprise as his younger foe actually manage to grab his torso and blasted the two through a bunch of trees.

" _Fire Dragon Sword Edge!"_ And with a vicious uppercut, Natsu blasted his opponent into the air, leaving a massive cut in the front of the armor. While surprised that his armor was damaged, Gerome decided to use his downward descent and grabbed his axe, forcing the dragon-slayer evade the massive impact.

But even as he evaded, Natsu started breathing heavily, much to his confusion. Gerome walked out of the crater and noticed that his foe's condition. Seeing this made the moustached man smirk.

"Took long enough for it to kick in."

"What're you talking about?" Natsu said as sweat started to flow down his forehead.

"When this battle began, my colleague tossed a few special grenades laced with a fast-acting poison element." He stated as he walked through Natsu, who was still panting profusely. "It took a bit for the poison to affect you, but it looks like it's finally doing its job."

Natsu just clenched his fists and ignited them in azure flames. He charged, but his speed at half as its usual limits at the moment. Enough for Germone to step out of the way. When his fist missed his opponent, Natsu watched in disbelief as his flames went out. He tried to ignite his fists again, but the only things that came out her tiny sparks. And it was this distraction that gave Gerome the chance to backhand Natsu, knocking him unconscious.

The large man grabbed the fallen dragon-slayer and tossed him onto his shoulder before rubbing some blood from his lip that he received from the Sword Edge spell. He then proceeded to walk towards the remaining combatants and saw them engaged in battle.

"We're done here!" Germone exclaimed, getting everyone's attention (minus the unconscious Ivan).

"Natsu!" Alyssa proclaimed before blasting towards the massive man, only for a bullet to scrape her upper thigh thanks to Effie, causing her to fall on her face.

"It'll have to do for now." Micheal stated as he deflected a strike from Lucy's Celestial Arm. He pulled out a green pendant from his pocket and held it out. "Consider yourselves lucky for now, Morningstar. But rest assured, your judgement will come."

The rest of the conscious crusaders pulled out identical pendants from their clothes and they all started to glow, temporary blinding the wizards. When the light faded, they saw that the four crusaders and Natsu had vanished without a trace.

"Where'd they go?" Lucy asked.

"It must've been some kind of teleportation charm." Zeke said, which confused him as he tried to piece together what the Crusaders were about based on their proclamations from earlier.

However, Alyssa got up and came to the realization that her boyfriend had been kidnapped. "They...they took Natsu."

Hearing this snapped Zeke out of his thoughts and he shared a worried look with Lucy, as it seemed like they had a whole new set of problems than when they started their journey.

_**And then…** _

Natsu started to groan as he finally regained consciousness. He quickly took notice of his surroundings and saw that he was in a cathedral-like room with a green tint on the windows. The salmon-haired man then noticed a series of dark blue chains surrounding his torso and arms. He attempted to melt the chains with his flames, but much to his shock, his fire refused to manifest. "What the hell?"

"That won't work." The dragon-slayer turned and saw Lady Fuyu kneeling in front of the altar. "Those chains negate the flow of magical energy. You can't summon your fire to melt away at them."

"And just who the hell are you?" Natsu growled as he sat up. The cloak-wearing masked woman stood up and started walking towards the dragon-slayer, saying nothing as she stopped in front of him. Without warning, she socked Natsu in the jaw, knocking him on his side.

"It wasn't enough for you destroy everything. But you don't even have the decency to remember your sins." Fuyu stated, hatred evident in her voice as she proceeded to kick the downed Natsu in the gut.

"W-What're you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life, lady!" But saying this only got him a kick to the face, drawing blood.

"How dare you! You took away everything from me! Burned it to the ground!" Fuyu declared, striking Natsu with each punctuation. She then held the chained up dragon-slayer by his scarf, their faces near the same level. "While I've been forced to hide and wallow in anguish, you've been prancing around Fiore, playing the part of a hero."

"Lady, I don't know you! I've never meet you before!" Natsu yelled out. Fuyu just let go, letting him fall on his ass as she held her mask in her hand.

"You really are a disappointment." She said as she pulled her mask off and her hood fell off, revealing long salmon-colored hair. The same color as Natsu's. Fuyu lifted her face, showing it to Natsu and making his eyes widen in shock.

"W-What?"

Fuyu's face had a burn mark on her left side that crossed over onto the rest of her face. A burn mark in the shape of a small hand. But what got to him to most was her eyes, which were the same shade of black as his.

"Who….who are you?" Natsu asked, even though the deepest part of his mind was fearing the answer. The question in turn made the salmon-haired woman's face contort in anger.

"Tell me, Natsu." Fuyu said. "What sort of child forgets his own mother?"

_To be continued…_


	21. Natsu's Past

_Chapter 21: Natsu's Past_

The sound of sandals and metal boots tapping against cobblestone echoed through the Crusaders HQ. Two Holy Crusader grunts with swords at their sides and were escorting the still chained-up Natsu to his cell. The aforementioned dragon-slayer's expression was that of confusion and devastation. Eventually, they arrived at an empty cell and shoved the salmon-haired man inside before locking it.

" **Hey! Are you going to feed any of us?!"** The being in the next cell over asked.

"Silence, demon!" One of the guards yelled.

" **Oh, I am going to use your spine as a toothpick when I get out!"** The being proclaimed as the guards walked away. It then turned its attention to its new neighbor. " **So what did you do to piss these bastards off?"**

Natsu said nothing as he lay on his side.

" **Don't feel like talking? Finally! Someone who knows when to shut up!"**

The distraught dragon-slayer, drained from both the beating and earlier revelations, started to drift to sleep. Part of him wanted to deny that the crazed woman was his mother, but their was no denying the resemblance the two shared. As he contemplated his situation, the salmon-haired man fell asleep.

_Natsu's eyes took a second to adjust to the light of the new area. In his confusion, he looked around and saw that he was in a forest in the middle of the day._

" _Where am I?" He asked._

" _Good job, Natsu." He heard a male voice say. The dragon-slayer turned and saw two people walking towards him, both of them carrying bags of logs or sticks on their backs. One was a man in his early thirties with spiky burgundy hair, golden eyes, a white buttoned-up shirt, black pants and boots. The other was a boy, probably no older than four. He had spiky salmon hair, a red t-shirt, dark green shorts and sandals. He also had a cheeky grin in on his face._

" _That's...that's me." Natsu whispered in shock. The two approached Natsu and just phased through him, almost like he wasn't there._

" _Yup! I got like a hundred stick today!" The younger Natsu cheerfully exclaimed._

" _I know. Maybe you could teach your old man a thing or two about wood gathering?" The man stated before ruffling the boy's hair._

" _Aw, cut it out, Dad!" The younger Natsu stated while the older Natsu followed behind them in interest. Eventually, the three found their way to a small village. As the older Natsu continued to follow, he looked around the village with a sense of familiarity. The continued to walk through the village until they reached a cabin on the edge of the town. In front of the cabin was a mailbox with the name 'Katagiri' written on it._

" _We're back!" Young Natsu exclaimed as the three walked into the house._

" _Welcome home." Fuyu greeted with a kind smile. She was adorned in a yellow sundress. Unlike the crazed and scarred woman Natsu had met earlier, this woman had a graceful and kind feeling to her._

" _Daddy!" A girl slightly older than the younger Natsu cheered as she ran to greet the two. She had short burgundy hair, gold eyes and had a cheeky grin. Her outfit consisted of a brown shirt and shorts._

" _How's my little princess?" Natsu's father asked before patting his daughter's head, causing her to giggle._

" _Great, Daddy!" She replied with glee. She then saw that logs and sticks the two men had collected. "So Dad had to help you again, huh?"_

" _Nuh-uh!" Young Natsu said in a pout. "I gathered all of these by myself, Hoshi!"_

" _Ya, right!" Hoshi teased. The two children continued to bicker as their parents looked on, amused by the immaturity on display._

" _They have your attitude, Daisuke." Fuyu stated with a giggle._

_The older Natsu kept watching the day progress and soon enough, more lost memories started to return to him. He remembered how much he idealized his father, how his mother's kind smile always brightened to up his day, and how even though his sister annoyed him to no end, he loved her all the same._

_The scene eventually changed to the Katagiri family having dinner at night. Everything was fine._

_All of a sudden, the door was busted down. A disheveled man had long dirty blond hair, several cuts on his arms and was adorned in tattered robes ran in, much to the family's shock._

" _What the...Get out of my house!" Daisuke yelled out. But before anyone could react, the man grabbed the young Natsu while leaping over the table._

" _Natsu!" Fuyu and Hoshi yelled in shock._

" _You bastard!" Daisuke exclaimed, quickly grabbing a knife from the table._

" _Not so fast!" The man said before holding his free hand up. In an instant, his arm was consumed by a red magic circle and transformed into a metal blade, which he held to the terrified Natsu's neck. "Take another step and I slice open the brat's throat!"_

_Daisuke glared at the man as he set down his knife, Hoshi looked on in shock at the man's display of power, and Fuyu looked in horror._

" _M-Magic." She whispered in fear._

" _What the hell do you want?" Daisuke growled out._

" _The Rune Knights have been chasing me for a while. So I need a place to lay low until then. And this town's so out in country that they'll never come looking for me here." He then pressed his blade arm closer to Natsu's neck. "You're going provide me all the food and shelter I want until the search is over."_

" _L-Let me go!" The boy yelled with tears running down his eyes. He attempted to wriggled out, only for the criminal to press the blade closer._

" _Stop struggling, brat!"_

" _Put my brother down, you...you meanie!" Hoshi cried out._

" _Natsu." Fuyu whispered, also letting tears run down her face._

" _Let…" The temperature around the young Natsu and criminal started to become warmer._

" _Me…" Blue magic circles appeared in his eyes._

" _GOOOOOO!" In a single instant, the criminal was consumed by azure fire, dropping the boy as he yelled in agonizing pain._

" _By Samuel's blade." Daisuke stated in shock._

" _Natsu!" Hoshi cried out, quickly hugging her brother._

" _Did...did I do that?" Natsu asked. As the criminal to continued to cry in pain, the boy covered his ears, not wanting to hear it._

" _Everything's gonna okay." Daisuke said, attempting to comfort his son. But as this happened, Fuyu just approached the three with her head held down._

" _Natsu…" She whispered, getting the three's attention._

" _Mommy?" He asked._

" _You…" She looked at the slowly dying and burning man before looking back down at her son. And much to the shock of everyone, Fuyu forcefully clasped her hands around her son's throat._

" _Fuyu, what the hell are you doing?!" Daisuke asked, attempted to pull his wife away from their child._

" _Stop it, Mom!" Hoshi yelled._

" _You monster!" Fuyu yelled as her grip tightened while Natsu continued to flail his arms. "Your one of those...magic abominations!"_

" _S-stop." Natsu choked out as he tried pushing Fuyu off by pushing her face away. Once more, his magic instinctively blared up around his hand, causing Fuyu to reel back in pain._

" _How could you?!" Daisuke yelled in anger. But Fuyu, in her anger and pain, grabbed the knife from the table and attempted to charge at Natsu. Daisuke saw this and attempted to block his wife's attack, which in turn lead to the knife piercing his chest._

" _Daddy!" Hoshi cried out._

" _Dad!" Natsu yelled. As all of this insanity was happening, the flames from the criminal's' corpse had caught onto the wooden walls of the house and were spreading quickly._

_Fuyu pushed her bleeding husband out of the way and glared at Natsu, the new burn mark on her face and bloody knife in her hands made her look with a demon from hell._

" _This...this all your fault!" Fuyu exclaimed, pointing her blood-covered knife at her terrified son. But before she could strike, Hoshi leaped at her mother, grabbing her by the waist and pushing her into the table._

" _Run!" Hoshi yelled._

" _B-But…"_

" _JUST RUN, NATSU!" The girl yelled as Fuyu started to get her second wind. With tears still running down his eyes, the salmon-haired boy ran past his family and out the door. He looked back at his house for one last time. His home. His sanctuary. His birthplace. It was being consumed by flames he had conjured in fear. He turned away and started to run into the forest._

_And as he did, all of the recent events started to come over him. He had been taken hostage, almost had his throat slit, and ended up burning that man to death. His mother had called him a monster and attempted to kill him. She had then stabbed his father. And it was likely that his mother and sister would perish with the burning house._

_Sufficed to say, all of this was too much for a four-year old mind to handle. As such, in order preserve his sanity, the boy's mind started to forget everything. Everything, except the last word his sister had said to him._

_Natsu._

Natsu awoke back in his cell. In his sleep, he had broken out in sweat. He remembered everything. His true last name. His home. His family. And  _that_ night.

And just like that night, tears of anguish started to flow freely down his face. Every since Igneel had found him, some part of Natsu had always wondered what happened to his real family. Had they abandoned or lost him in the forest? Was he the lone survivor of some animal attack?

But now, he finally had the answer. And as he laid back down on the cell floor and even more tears fell down his face, he was wishing he hadn't.

_To be continued…_


	22. The Rescue

_Chapter 22: The Rescue_

" _...up..."_

" _...ake up…"_

"WAKE UP, JACKASS!"

A with a solid right cross to his left cheek, Ivan of the Holy Crusaders was woken up. The first thing he noticed (aside from the pain on his face) was that he was tied to a tree. The crazed blond then looked up and saw two women and a man looking down at him. And all three of them were pissed.

"Goody. You're awake." Zeke said with a massive amount of sarcasm as he held Ivan's green stone (which he had pilfered it the Crusader while he was still unconscious). "Now tell us where your buddies took Natsu before I perforate one your lungs with an arrow."

Hearing this just made Ivan chuckle. "So, the others have already captured the Salamander. Hate to break to ya, string bean, but your friend is gone. You might as well start writing his eulogy."

Angered by this, Alyssa kneed him in the stomach and caused him cough violently. "You sure you're a woman? 'Cause you hit like a lumberjack."

"That was only half of my full strength." The orange-haired woman stated as she cracked her knuckles as a show of force.

But Ivan just continued to laugh before spitting at the Fairy Tail wizards. "You might as well kill me, you blasphemous assholes. Because I'd rather die than betray my sacred mission."

Alyssa was about to strike him again but Lucy just raised her hand to stop her. The blonde then proceeded to pull out of her gold spirit keys.

" _Open, Gate of the Maiden - Virgo!"_ And out of the gate came the shapeshifting maid spirit.

"Good morning, princess." The pink-haired spirit greeted with a polite bow. "How can I assist you today?"

"You see that man?" Lucy said as she pointed to the tied up Ivan. Virgo looked and nodded. "Punish him."

Hearing this brought a subtle spark to Virgo's eyes, even though her expression didn't change. "Understood, princess."

As the pink-haired maiden walked towards the Holy Crusader, said Crusader just chuckled some more. "Kinky sex ain't gonna work either."

However, he failed to notice the smirk on Virgo's face as she stood over him. The maiden spirit then proceeded to...

**(The following 'punishment' has been removed due to this story being rated T. Seriously, you don't want to know what Virgo is doing behind this message. It's pretty damn weird.)**

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!" Ivan (now stripped down to his boxers, had various blemishes all over his skin and covered in nacho cheese) yelled out as he ran away from Virgo, who was holding up a log covered in suspicious-looking liquid. "JUST KEEP THIS FREAK AWAY FROM ME!"

The three Fairy Tail wizards were stunned and shocked by the events that had just transpired. Well, Zeke and Lucy were while Alyssa was trying not to vomit.

"Um….Virgo, that's enough. You can go back now." Lucy squeaked out.

"Aw." Virgo pouted in disappointment. She tossed the suspicious log away before bowing and fading back to the Spirit World.

"Well, that was….something." Zeke stated as he started repressing the punishment he had just witnessed. He then approached the shaking Crusader. "Now, let's talk."

At a nearby stream, Ven was sitting with his head on his knees while Happy looked over his various lacrima grenades. But as the blue cat was cleaning one of his weapons, he heard the silver-haired boy tearing up.

"Ven?" Happy asked.

"It's my fault." The boy whispered to himself. "You guys went on this journey because me. Now Mr. Natsu is gone and…"

However, the wincaran stopped as he felt the blue-furred cat hug him.

"Don't even think this is your fault." Happy said.

"But...I…"

"Did you intend on getting captured and taken from your home?"

"...no…"

"Did you send those weirdos after us?"

"...no.."

"Then it wasn't your fault. So don't blame yourself." The cat stated as he ruffled the boy's head. Even though Happy was worried about his father figure, he had faith that his teammates would come up with a plan to save him from interrogating the captured crusader. And even though Happy was often considered the runt of Team Morningstar, he had just as much experience and hardships faced as his human comrades. "We chose to help you, no matter the consequences."

And hearing this made the wincaran boy calm down a bit and ease up his conscience.

Back with the three human wizards, Zeke, Lucy and Alyssa were going over the information they had gotten from Ivan (who was once more tied to a tree). The Holy Crusader sect that Ivan was part of was based in a secluded canyon not marked on any map and under the command of Lady Fuyu. Underneath the cathedral was a prison where they keep the 'abominations' they had captured for experimentation, figure out how magical beings ticked. It was also likely that Natsu was being held in the aforementioned prison.

The stone that he and the other crusaders had used were described as holy relics called Transport Stones. They worked by the user thinking of someone and they would be teleported to their location. It would also teleport anyone the user was touching (hence why Gerome was able to bring Natsu with them).

And soon enough, the four wizards and wincaran were gathered around with Ivan still tied up (and cursing up a storm).

"Are you guys sure?" Happy asked after he had heard about his friends' plan.

"We are." Zeke stated with firm determination.

"At least let me come with you!" Ven cried out. But Alyssa kneeled down and placed her hand on Ven's shoulder.

"It's too dangerous, Ven." The amazonian woman stated with a comforting expression. "Just trust us. We'll meet with you and Happy later." She then turned towards her feline friend. "Can you keep him safe for us, Happy?"

"Aye, sir." The blue-furred cat said with a salute, more serious than he had ever been.

With a nod, Alyssa stood up and approached Lucy and Zeke, the later of which was holding the Transport Stone.

"You sure you want to do this?" Zeke asked Lucy.

"He would do the same for me." The celestial wizard answered, remembering how the team had tracked her back to her home when they thought she was quitting Fairy Tail.

So with their minds set and their wills strong, Zeke held out the green stone while the women placed their hands on top of it. They closed their eyes and started thinking about their salmon-haired friend.

'Natsu.' Lucy thought, remembering when he and the others offered her the chance to join Fairy Tail.

'Natsu.' Zeke thought, remembering the day when the two became best friends.

'Natsu.' Alyssa thought, remembering her first encounter with Natsu and how infectious his smile was.

And in a brilliant flash of green light, the three were gone, leaving only Happy, Ven and the tied up Ivan. The cat and boy grabbed their bags and continued on with their trek, mentally wishing their friends luck. However, they failed to see Ivan's smirk.

Meanwhile, Natsu was still laying on the floor of his cell. After a few hours of remembering his past, the fire dragon-slayer now had more time to process this. But while he was beyond angry, there was one nagging question in the back of his head.

But in a flash of green light, that train of thought was tabled. And when Natsu reopened his eyes, for the first time in hours, a smile appeared on his face as he saw his team now inside of this cell.

"Guys!" Natsu said with glee.

"Natsu!" The three cheered, Alyssa rushing and giving her boyfriend a hug.

"How did you guys do that? Wait, where's Happy and Ven?" He asked. And when he said the later, the silver-haired woman in the other cell widened her eyes in shock.

"Happy's taking him back to his home." Alyssa explained.

"And as for how we got here, you can thank this little trinket." Zeke said as he up the Transport Stone. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

Lucy and Alyssa placed each of their hands on either Zeke or Natsu's shoulders, making the dragon-slayer raise an eyebrow. The three started to think about Happy, but nothing happened. They opened their eyes and saw that the Transport Stone was no longer glowing. Zeke attempted to use the stone by himself, but still nothing happened. However, the archer's mind was quickly able to put two and two together.

"Son of a bitch!" Zeke yelled out in anger. "Teleporting. Teleporting like that takes up a lot of energy. Energy that a small rock like this couldn't possibly generate. They must have some kind of charging station or stockpile of charged stones."

"You mean…" Lucy said, fearful of the answer.

"We used up the charge to port in!" Zeke stated. "We're trapped."

"No, we're not." Alyssa said as she attempted to vibrate the chains off of Natsu. The vibrations cracked the chains enough for the orange-haired woman to break them apart. "New plan, we find the charging station or another stone and get out of here."

"Not yet." Natsu said, confusing his teammates as he melted the bars in his cell. "I need to ask Fuyu something."

"Fuyu? The crazy lady in charge?" Lucy asked. "What do have ask her about?"

As he finished off melting the bars, Natsu just sighed before turning back to his friends. "Fuyu...is my mother."

No one knew how to react to this. Lucy and Alyssa looked at their teammate in shock while Zeke tried to remain skeptical.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Zeke asked. "I mean, why do you think…"

"I've seen her real face. We have the same hair color. The same eyes. And...I remembered everything." The dragon-slayer said, all of the events of the last few hours once again coming to the forefront of his mind.

And thus, he told them the entire story. From his memory of his family, his real last name, and the night that ruined his life. And as he relayed his memories and revelations, the dragon-slayer started to tear up once again. Alyssa hugged her boyfriend in comfort while Lucy sobbed at the story and Zeke just stared, not sure what to say.

"That's why I need to ask her." Natsu said as he wiped away his tears. "Hoshi...she might still be…"

Zeke, now finally out of his state of shock, stood up and walked out of the cell. "Then ask her. Hell, beat the answers out of her if you have to."

The others stood up as their leader continued to talk. "Lucy and I will find a way out. You and Alyssa find Fuyu and get the answers out of her."

Natsu looked at his best friend and smiled. "Thank you." And with that, the two split into four split up into two groups.

"Wait!" The woman said as Zeke and Lucy passed by her cell. The two wizards looked and saw her approaching the cell doors. But what got their attention was the silver hair and the wings on her back. "You know my Ven, right?"

"Yes." Lucy answered. "Who are you?"

"My name is Gale. I'm his mother. Is he okay?!" She frantically asked.

"He's alright, Mam." Zeke said to calm her down. "He's with our friend, Happy."

"Thank the winds." She said with a calm sigh. "Please, help me escape. Take me to my son." She begged.

Zeke and Lucy looked to each other and nodded. "We will. Just wait until we come back with a working Transport Stone." The archer stated.

"Thank you." Gale said, calm and hopeful for the first time in weeks. But as the four wizards left the prison block, the being in the cell between Natsu and Gale's had been uncharacteristically quiet as all this was occurring.

" **Interesting."**

In another part of the base, Fuyu was once more kneeling in front of the cathedral. "Mighty Creator, give me guidance." She prayed. "I have the monster that destroyed my family in my grasp. Should I dirty my hands and end his life."

Something...answered her. To an average human, it sounded like a cross between a wail and a strong gust of wind.

"Yes, I understand. He must pay for his primes." The salmon-haired Crusader answered. Another strange sound was heard by her. "What?! He's escaped?! How?!"

And another...sound replied to her.

"So his allies have defiled our sanctuary with a stolen relic." Fuyu stated as she put her signature garnet mask. "They must pay for this sin."

Back with Zeke and Lucy, the two hid behind a wall while a bunch of guards past by. As soon as the guards had backs facing the two wizards, the archer and the celestial wizard struck, quickly knocking them out and searching them for Transport Stones.

"No stones." Lucy said after looking.

"They must only be given to high ranking members." Zeke guessed.

"You're right on the nose." A familiar voice answered, freaking out the two wizards as they quickly turned around and saw Effie skipping towards them with a smile, twirling two pistols as she did so. "Now, what to do with you trespassers?"

At the same time, Natsu and Alyssa were passing by what looked like a dining area. But before they could bend around the corner, the amazonian woman was forced to block an armored fist attack by Talia.

"Intruders." The gothic gauntlet-wielder said before glaring at Natsu. "And you're going to back to your cell."

"Not a chance!" The two yelled out as Alyssa tossed the crusader away, only for her to land on her feet and tap her gauntlets together.

"You are so dead." She stated before holding her fists out.

And back with Fuyu, the masked crusader opened a secret door within the cathedral and stepped down the stairs. Within the secret chamber was a blade mounted on the wall. The blade in general was a sheathed broadsword with a golden hilt. In the center of the hilt was an empty jem. The scarred woman grabbed the weapon from the wall.

"Let this blade fly true and strike down those who upset the natural order." She prayed as she waved her hand over the jem. And in a quick flash of light, the jem was filled with an image of a moving golden eye. "Yes. They will burn in the eternal pit."

_To be continued…_


	23. Set Free

_Chapter 23: Set Free_

Bullets and energy arrows were flying through the corridors of the Crusader HQ as Zeke and Effie began their sharpshooting duel while Lucy deflected any projectiles that came her way with her Celestial Arm.

"Come on, arrow boy! Show me what you got!" Effie said with a sickeningly sweet smile as she twirled and fired.

"Lucy, get out of here!" Zeke yelled out as he quickly tossed the Transport Stone to her. The blonde understood the gesture and nodded, quickly running from the battle.

"Aww, that's sweet! You're sacrificing yourself to save your girlfriend." Effie said with a taunting tone.

Zeke didn't even bother correcting her as he readied his next spell and the battle began anew.

Back with Natsu, Alyssa, and Talia, the amazonian woman rushed at her gothic-looking opponent. But much to the woman's shock, Talia seemed to vanish from her sight. The wizard couple stood back to back as they looked around for the gothic crusader. But what confused Natsu was that he couldn't smell his opponent.

"Now what made you think that invading our home was a remotely good idea?" Talia asked with her voice coming from all around them. "I thought wizards were supposed to be smart."

Talia teleported in between the two and threw another punch that Alyssa caught. "I got this, Natsu! Do what you need to!"

"Right!" The dragon-slayer said before running past the two. As he did, Talia disappeared again, and Alyssa braced herself again as Talia struck her in the shoulder before disappearing again.

Natsu, on the other hand, ran through the halls, following Fuyu's scent. He stopped in front of two large doors and sniffed. 'There you are.' He thought to himself before kicking the doors off their hinges. The doors landed on the far ends of the cathedral room. Kneeling in the center was Fuyu with the broadsword under her hands.

"So instead of escaping, you came to face me." The masked woman stated. "I don't know whether I'm surprised or disappointed."

Natsu said nothing as he glared at the kneeling woman. "Before I burn this damn place down to the ground, I have one question."

"And what would that be?" Fuyu asked as she stood up.

"What happened to Hoshi?"

Fuyu said nothing before turning around and facing her son, their black eyes locked towards each other.

"She perished in the fire that night." She said as she pulled her broadsword out of its sheath. "But what do you care? Until yesterday, you didn't even remember you had a family. So what does it matter if your sister was alive or dead?"

"I guess...I just needed some closure." The dragon-slayer said before slamming his fists together, causing a short burst of fire between them. He then started to suck in some air and readied one of his signature spells.  _"Fire Dragon Roar!"_

But like Michael did before, Fuyu swung her broadsword down and separated the fire spell, causing it to smash into the other sides of the wall. Natsu then leaped at her with both his fists ignited, but she managed to block the attacks with the flat side of her sword. She then swung her blade in a horizontal line, of which Natsu jumped over and launched another Roar spell.

 _"Repel!"_  Fuyu proclaimed as she held out her left hand. And as soon as she did that, an orange hexagonal shield appeared in front of her and blocked the fire.

 _"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"_  The dragon-slayer unleashed twin fire attacks at the crusader. She slashed the spell apart and tapped on the eye of her sword. The blade split into two and she aimed it at her younger opponent.

 _"Feel the Flames of Creation!"_  She chanted and aimed it at Natsu. An orange blast fired from the middle and blasted Natsu through the wall. She leaped through the new hole and swung at the dragon-slayer, only for him to evade by launching fire from his feet. The two continued to exchange and evade their attacks with fire and sword swings.

Back with Zeke and Effie, the brunette archer had managed to find cover behind a nearby corner. As he caught his breath, he listened to Effie's fast approaching footsteps.

"You know, the more about you guys, the more it becomes clear that you're all full of shit!" Zeke yelled before leaping out of the way of a barrage that blew a hole in the corner.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Effie said as she evaded a stream of arrows.

"You haven't reloaded your guns. At all." Zeke stated as he conjured up a shield spell to block the shots. "And you teleported away using enchanted stones. You and your friends are clearly using magic even though from what I can, you guys are a bunch anti-magic cultist nutjobs."

Effie stopped shooting for a second, only to giggle in amusement.

"And just what about that is so hilarious?" The archer asked.

"You've proven just how much your pagan arts has blinded you. You can't even tell the difference between your unholy practices and blessings from the Creator himself."

"And just who is this...Creator?"

Effie just shook her head as her giggling became full on laughter. "Your kind truly have strayed from the path! How could you have forgotten the being that breathed life into this barren world? The one who imparted the gifts of knowledge, love, and compassion back when humanity was in its infancy?"

Zeke raised an eyebrow in curiosity. His mind quickly thought back to the stories he had heard in his youth. Specifically…

"You're talking about a God."

"Oh! So you know the word for the Creator's species!" Effie said with glee.

"I also know that Gods don't exist." Zeke said with a glare. "They were just stories our ancestors created to explain what they could not understand."

"Blasphemy!" Effie exclaimed, finally displaying an emotion other than bemusement. "The Gods exist! Kreierung is proof of that!"

"Kreierung?" The archer said to himself. "Okay, now I know you guys are out of your gourds. Kreierung was the God of Destruction and War. So not only are you making innocent people suffer because of an outdated dogma, but your can't even get your mythology right!"

He then pulled on his string as a spiraling energy arrow was formed. "Arch Shot: Drill Arrow!"

With a quick spin, he fired his spell. Effie evaded the attack, but the spiraling magic tore up the bottom left portion of her dress.

"You…" The girl said with her body shaking. "YOU RUINED MY DRESS!"

The female brunette screamed her head off as she unleashed a massive barrage of bullets that Zeke blocked with his Shield spell.

'That's it. Lose your cool. Stop thinking clearly.' The green-eyed archer thought as he dropped his shield and leaped into the air, firing another barrage of magical arrows. The arrows pierced Effie's dress even more. And as she looked on in shock of her torn dress, Zeke quickly landed and charged, headbutting Effie in the process. And as soon as she was airborne, the archer readied his final spell, with electricity shooting around the green magic circle.

 _"Arch Shot: Demolition Arrow!"_  And with a final yell, Zeke unleashed a massive arrow that quickly hit Effie and blasted her through several walls. Whether she was dead or not, the archer didn't care. After all, he needed to make sure his friends were okay.

Speaking of friends, Alyssa was holding her arms up in a boxing stance as she was looking around the hallway for her opponent. Talia kept disappearing as soon as she landed a blow. And while Alyssa could take a punch, eventually, she would crumble from the continued assault.

'What's her secret? Teleportation? No, that's usually way more flashy. It can't be superspeed. I would be able to see her move with my slowed down perspective.' The orange-haired wizard thought to herself as her eyes darted around the room. 'So what is she doing?'

And once more, Talia appeared and socked her in the stomach. However, this time, Alyssa slowed down her perception to see just what happened. In a matter of seconds, she saw the two jewels inside Talia's gauntlets spark briefly before it quickly spread over her body and turning her invisible.

'So that's your secret!' Alyssa thought to herself with a smirk. 'She turns invisible! Well then, let's even the odds a bit.'

 _"Speed Queen: Tornado!"_  The purple-eyed woman quickly spun around, creating a powerful wind tunnel that spread through the hallway, blowing away portraits, pedestals, and a certain invisible crusader. Talia was blasted off the floor and impacted against the wall. Alyssa heard the sound of the impact and charged in that direction.  _"Speed Queen: Hundred-Strike Punch!"_

And in a quick barrage, Alyssa had managed to hit her invisible foe a hundred times. And which her consciousness fading, Talia was rendered visible once more.

"Well, that was something." She said as she let the gothic crusader fall onto the floor. She then heard some shaking coming from the floors above her and a familiar roaring. "Natsu!"

And with that, she took off towards her boyfriend's location. In another part of the building, Lucy was turning around the corner and found a door with a large lock and chain around it. "Well, that looks important."

With a swing of her Celestial Arm, the blonde wizard sliced apart the lock and opened the door. And when she saw what was inside the room, her eyes widened in awe. Sitting on the shelves were thousands of Transport Stones, various weapons and a large green crystal formed out of the floor.

"Jackpot!" Lucy cheered to herself as she started to load a bunch of Transport Stones into her spare key pouch that she keep on hand for emergencies. She then looked upon the large crystal, tilting her head as she examined it. "Well, my gigantic shiny friend, let's figure out what you are."

The blonde wizard pulled out one of her silver keys and swung it in front of her.  _"Open, Gate of the Southern Cross - Crux!"_  And out of the gate came another bizarre-looking spirit. His head was a big silver cross with golden markings at each point. This made his body look even lankier in comparison as he floated in the air. And to complete the cross motif, two white crosses made of nose hair were sticking out of his nostrils.

"Grandpa Crux, I need you to search something for me." Lucy said to the seemingly sleeping Celestial Spirit. She then pointed to the large crystal. "What is this thing?"

With his eyes still closed, Crux's headed titled up and down. The cross-shaped spirit kept snoring for a bit. And soon enough, his eyes opened and he gave out a loud, "YAHOOOOO!"

"You found something?"

"Indeed." The old spirit stated. "The crystal before us is an Etherion crystal."

"But it's the wrong color." Lucy stated. "Etherion crystals are usually blue."

"Hmmm. It does seem odd." Crux replied. "Perhaps whoever forged the crystal tampered with its properties during the forming stage."

Lucy thought about this for a minute before hearing the sound of metal tapping against stone. "Little girls shouldn't sneak around."

The Celestial Wizard and Spirit turned to see Gerome walking into the room.

"You're that wizard-slayer guy." Lucy said as she grabbed her Celestial Arm. Crux, on the other hand, looked over the armored man before grunting.

"Gerome Whitaker. Wanted in Dias for the murder of thirty-seven wizards. Six of whom were Celestial Wizards." The cross spirit stated, making Lucy widen her eyes in shock. The aforementioned man looked at the keys on Lucy's belt and smirked.

"Looks like I'll have some new additions to my collection." The man stated before reaching into his armor. What he pulled out was a necklace with twenty-three different keys. One gold key, a red key, seventeen silver keys, and much to Lucy's surprise, three green keys. But there was no time to ask about that as Gerome grabbed the massive ax from his back.

"Not a chance." She stated, holding her sword out as Crux returned to the spirit world. "You're not getting any of my keys."

"That's what they all say." The mustached man stated as the two began their battle.

In another part of the building, Natsu and Fuyu had crashed through the walls of the building's cafeteria, scarring a few grunt crusaders who were eating. The salmon-haired man unleashed another Roar spell, which Fuyu leaped out the way. She then used a table as a springboard and launched at her foe, but Natsu managed to jump away from the moving blade. Growing tired of the constant attack and retaliation, Natsu decided to ramp things up.

With a roar, azure fire burst around him, pushing Fuyu back.

 _"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"_  Natsu yelled as he ignited his fist and blasted forward towards Fuyu.

" _Repel!"_  The masked woman shouted, conjuring up another shield to protect herself. But this time, the shield was no good as Natsu's attack went through, smashing both the shield and Fuyu's mask. The impact of the attack smashed her through several tables.

Fuyu groaned as she back up, blood streaming down from her lip. She looked and saw Natsu walking towards her, azure fire blazing around him and his eyes filled with hatred and anger.

"You're as monstrous as the rumors said." Fuyu said as she used her sword keep herself up.

"Said the kettle to the pot." Natsu growled as he cracked his neck.

'If this keeps up, I'm going to die.' Fuyu thought to herself as Natsu approached her. Her mind thought back to a particular moment that defined her life. The screaming. The pain. And the method that caused all of the suffering. 'No! I am not going to die! I have a mission! And I will finish it no matter what!'

 _"Mighty Creator, hear my prayer."_  Fuyu started to chant as she held her sword to her face.  _"Take this mortal body as your just arbiter. Smite those who would deny your will!"_

The eye on the sword's pommel started to glow a bright orange, which blinded Natsu.

 _"Divine Armament!"_  The light began to grow more intense, and the building began to shake from a massive influx of energy. The light eventually faded, and Natsu looked once again.

Fuyu entire body had become covered in black and white armor. The only spot open was the top that let her hair flow free (her hair had also become dark orange). Her faceplate consisted of solid blue glass that covered her eyes. But the most noticeable trait of the new armor was a golden eye resting on her forehead. And what freaked Natsu the most was that the eye blinked and Fuyu's breathing had slowed down.

"What the hell is…" But before the dragon-slayer could finish his sentence, Fuyu had punched him clear through four walls. Still airborne, Natsu blasted fire from his feet and ignited his fist. The now armored Fuyu leap towards the dragon-slayer with orange energy surrounding her gauntlet. The two attacks collided and struggled for a breath second before Fuyu's attack overpowered his, letting her smash him through the floor. And before Natsu could get back up, the armored woman landed on his stomach, causing the dragon-slayer to cough up blood.

 _ **"I will finish what I** **started**_. _ **"**_  Fuyu said with an altered voice. With an armored hand, she grabbed hold of Natsu's throat and began to squeeze. To save himself, fire started to blaze all over Natsu's body. However, this did nothing to the armored woman.

"Hands off!" In a flash, Fuyu was bodychecked into a wall by Alyssa. The speed wizard turned down to her boyfriend and helped him up as he caught his breath.

"Thanks." He said as he saw Fuyu get back from the rubble.

"Who's that?"

"Fuyu." Natsu stated as he got back into a fighting stance. Alyssa raised an eyebrow at this but had no time to react as Fuyu charged at them once again, forcing them to dodge another energized attack. The amazonian woman charged at her armored opponent with a spell ready.

 _"Speed Queen: Vibration Punch!"_  But much to her shock, Fuyu managed to catch to attack and slam Alyssa into the ground. She attempted to stomp on the younger woman, but she quickly sped out of the way. Natsu then unleashed a Wing Attack spell, but Fuyu conjured up two shields to block the attacks. Alyssa then charged at her with a burst of super speed, but Fuyu managed the attack. The two woman proceeded to rush and retaliate at inhuman speeds. As the two clashed, Natsu started preparing one of his most powerful spells, slamming his fist together as a massive blue magic circle appeared behind him.

 _"The flames in my right hand and the flames in my left!"_  He chanted as two powerful fires appeared in both his hands.  _"Put the two together…"_  He then slammed the flames together over his head, forming a massive azure fireball.  _"AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!"_

As he did this, Fuyu had finally managed to find an opening and uppercut Alyssa into the next floor. With all of his anger, Natsu leaped into the air above the armored woman.

 _"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!"_  The salmon-haired dragon-slayer threw the massive fireball down at his foe. Fuyu raised a full shield around herself, but the shields shattered from the massive power and fireball consumed her. The fireball then exploded into a pillar that shot through the roof of the headquarters that was seen for miles.

Back in the cell block, the roof shook from the powerful spell. Gale covered her head in fear from the shaking while the being in the next door cell looked up in confusion. However, as its head was up, it noticed something. A small hole had opened right above its cell door.

 **"Finally."**  The being said with a smirk.

Back at the battle, Alyssa had managed to get back up and saw the smoke left over from Natsu's attack.

"Is she dead?"

"She has to be." Natsu growled as he finally had a chance to wipe the blood from his mouth. The two looked at the smoke and heard something that sounded like growling and moaning at the same time. Suddenly, Natsu's nose picked up a new scent of sulfur and saw an orange light start to glow brighter in the smoke. On a gut instinct, the two leaped out of the way as an orange blast shot past them. Fuyu emerged from the smoke, soot covering her armor and the burnt parts slowly healing up. The eye on her forehead started to glow before launching another beam that the two wizards dodged. The armored woman turned to the still evading Alyssa and readied another eyebeam attack. However, this attack was stopped as a green magic arrow pierced the eye, causing an explosion feedback that knocked Fuyu away.

"So…" Natsu and Alyssa turned to see Zeke emerged from a hole in the wall with his longbow out. "Anyone want to explain who the hell is that?"

"Apparently, that's Fuyu." Alyssa said as the aforementioned armored woman got back up, the orange eye on her forehead healing up with a sickening sound. "Gross."

Fuyu looked at the trio with her breathing slowed down.

"Well, this is gonna be fun." Zeke groaned as he readied another spell.

Meanwhile, Lucy was tossed through a wall and rolled onto the group. As she coughed from the dust and groaned from the pain, Gerome stepped through the hole with his ax slung over his shoulders.

"You Celestial Wizards are all the same." The mustached man taunted as he looked down at Lucy, who managed to get back up. "You rely on others to fight your battles for you."

The two foes then heard shaking coming from the upper levels. "At least your comrades are putting up a fight. But you? You're pathetic."

In anger, Lucy swung her whip sword at her foe, but he managed to smack the blade away with his armor gauntlet.

"Why don't you just summon one of your servants? They'd probably give me an actual challenge."

And this was the pickle Lucy was in. Most of her golden spirits were unavailable at the moment. Hell, Loki was still in the middle of recovering his full strength. There was only one Celestial Spirit she could call, and she would pretty much be useless if she were summoned.

But as the blonde woman evaded a swing from Gerome's ax, another opinion came to mind. She quickly swung her whip sword and cut through two support beams, causing the floor above to collapse on top of Gerome. However, she knew that was only a temporary solution since the debris was already starting to shake. Acting quickly, Lucy pulled out one of her eyes and closed her eyes.

_"Aquarius, please lend me your strength."_

A transparent image of the blue-haired mermaid appeared next to the blonde girl.  _"Tch. Whatever."_

The mermaid spirit vanished before Lucy opened her eyes and the hidden key slot on her hilt opened up. She quickly inserted the key and turned the key as a blue magic circle appeared behind her. The segmented parts of her blade split apart and started to float around the magic circle. As Gerome emerged from the pile, Lucy thought back to what Alexander said before. And a name came to her mind as she aimed her hilt at the large man, the floating pieces beginning to glow with golden energy.

 _"Meteor Blitz!"_  And with that name, the segmented pieces blasted off towards the axe-wielding man.

"What the deuce?!" Gerome exclaimed as he swung his weapon, seemingly deflecting the blades. However, Lucy quickly swung her hilt down, controlling the bladed segments to do the same, cutting through several parts of the mustached man's armor. And with a furious yell, the blonde wizard swung the hilt around frantically, causing the segments to swarm and attack like a horde of bees. When the attack finally ended, Gerome's armor fell off in cut segments and blood shot out from various cuts all over his body. "Well...played."

The large crusader fell over, and his necklace of keys fell off his neck (the string had been cut during the attack). Lucy's Celestial Arm recombined as the blonde girl picked up the Celestial Keys. She pocketed the keys before hearing the rumbling sounds coming from upstairs.

'What's going on?' She asked herself as she looked up at the roof. Deciding to take a shortcut, Lucy grabbed one of the Transport Stones and thought of Alyssa. And in a flash of light, the blonde girl was teleported into the same room her friends were at.

"Lucy?" The girl turned and saw a bruised and bloody Zeke inside a crater while Natsu and Alyssa (who was in her Overclock form) were trying their best to hold off the still-armored Fuyu. Alyssa's right arm was dangling in a way that suggested that it was dislocated while Natsu had blood coming down over his left eye.

"What's going on?" The girl asked in fear as she helped Zeke up.

"Do you have the Stones?" He asked.

"Y-ya, but what about…" Lucy asked as she pulled another charged stone out.

"I'll explain when we're not about to die." Zeke said before turning to his friends. "Natsu, Alyssa! We're leaving!"

"But I…" Natsu said as he was forced to evade another eyebeam.

"No buts! We can't win at this rate!" The archer said. Natsu growled before looking at Alyssa. The two nodded and decided to provide themselves a distraction and charged at Fuyu.

_"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"_

_"Speed Queen: Vibration Punch!"_

The couple managed to punch the armored woman through a wall, given them a moment to escape. The two rushed to Zeke and Lucy, and the four of them placed their hands over the stone.

'Gale.' The four of them thought and were teleported into the winged woman's cell.

"What the…"

"No time to explain!" Alyssa quickly stated. "Just place your hand over ours and think of Ven!"

Not wanting to spend another second in this damned place, Gale did just that. As soon as the five thought about the same person, they vanished in a flash of green light. The five then reappeared in a forest and landed on their backs, which was more painful to some than others.

"Natsu…" Zeke groaned in pain from his injuries as Alyssa's Overclock mode ran out. "Your mom's a bitch."

"Tell me something I don't know." The dragon-slayer as he wiped the blood from his forehead.

"GUYS!"

"MOMMY!"

The five turned and saw Happy and Ven running towards them with tears in the eyes.

"Ven!" Gale said before flapping her wings quickly and embracing her son in a hug. "I was so worried! Are you…"

"I'm fine, Mom." Ven cried out, savoring the warmth of his mother's hug. "Alyssa and the others protected me."

With tears in her eyes, the winged woman turned towards the wizards (who were attempting to calm the worries of their feline friend) and smiled.

"Thank you." She said with all the gratefulness in her body, getting their attention. "Thank you so much."

"No need to thank us." Alyssa said with a groan as she relocated her right arm. "It's what we do."

Natsu thought back to the revelations he had experienced over the last few hours. And while a lot of this was devastating for the dragon-slayer, the sight of Ven and Gale tearfully embracing was enough to bring a small smile to his face.

_**And then…** _

_Dear Mom,_

_The last few weeks have been crazy. Even by Fairy Tail Standards. On our way to bring Ven back to his home, we were attacked by an anti-magic cult calling themselves the Holy Crusaders. Apparently, they worship an old god of creation (or god of destruction according to Zeke) called Kreierung, and they think that magic and anything related to magic is evil. But considering what we saw, I'm starting to think there's something else going on with these creeps._

_Anyway, the Crusaders kidnapped Natsu, but Zeke, Alyssa and I were able to break into their headquarters. But it was there we learned something horrible; the leader of the cult was none other than Natsu's mother, Fuyu. There's a lot to unpack about that, but I'll save that for another letter._

_We managed to escape the base with Ven's mother Gale (she had later explained that they had captured her when she went looking for Ven) more than a little worse for wear. Fuyu had transformed into some kind of armored form. And apparently, this turned her into a real monster that could withstand Morningstar's strongest spells. Thank the Celestial King we got out of there when we did._

_So after reuniting Ven and his mother, we've spent the last two weeks licking our wounds and making our way to the Fianna Mountain Range. Eventually, we reached Ven and Gale's settlement thanks to their directions. The chief of their tribe gave us his gratitude and let the five of us rest in the village for three days. After resting up and restocking our supplies, we started our journey back to Magnolia._

_But before we left, Ven called out to Alyssa and asked if he could join Fairy Tail when he was older. Of course, Alyssa smiled back at the kid and said that he and her mother would always be welcomed at Fairy Tail._

_As I'm writing this letter, we're about halfway through the Northern Woods and setting up camp for tonight. Natsu's been uncharacteristically quiet for the last week. Not that I blame him. Sure, he still smiles whenever one of us makes a joke, but you can tell that he's thinking about his past. Thankfully, Alyssa's been comforting him whenever he started to get depressed. Zeke has been scratching his head trying to figure out what Fuyu's transformation was. Happy's been his usual chipper and slightly annoying self, but you can tell he's worried about Natsu._

_As for me, I've been going back and forth on whether or not I should make contracts with the new Spirits I took from the Crusader called Gerome. Of course, I'm leaving the red key for Alexander, but I'm hesitating on making contracts with the Silver or Gold Key Spirits. The last thing they probably saw was their Celestial Wizard being killed by that maniac. Plus,_ there're _the green keys that I have no clue about._

_Anyway, it's my turn to make dinner, so I'm going to wrap this up real quick. I'll be sure to write to you again once we make it back to Magnolia._

_Love, Lucy._

**Epilogue _:_**

As the sun was setting on a sandy shore, the being that had escaped from the Crusaders' headquarters was feasting on a beached whale. It's misty hands held up the meat before it started to consume it with its knife-like teeth.

"Fascinating." The being turned and saw a blue-haired man wearing a hood approached him.

 **"Get your own meal."**  The being growled, glaring at the man with its blood-red eyes.  **"This is mine."**

"No worries, friend. I already had dinner earlier." The man replied, raising his head to reveal a dark red tattoo that covered the right side of his face and his blue hair.

 **"Who are you?"**  The being asked before chomping down on more raw meat.

"A servant of your creator." The blue-haired man answered. Hearing this made the being stop his feasting and turn to face the man. It looked over the man with its blood-red eyes before giving off a sinister smirk.

 **"So you are."**  The being said before getting up and holding its hand out.  **"You got a name, stranger?"**

The blue-haired man smirked as he shook the creature's hand. "Jellal. And I think you and me are going to get along just fine, Shadowman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you guys know, this is the last chapter of A New Day as Part 1 of the Fairy Mythos Series. 
> 
> I'll upload Part 2: Homecoming later today!


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